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Interview with Christian Dumont |
Are you satisfied with the season at this point ?Yes, the French team has altogether reached good results. Already 2 podiums of the boys and also 2 of the girls with this victory in Oberhof, that's very good for team. And the leaders too: Raphael has already won a races, Vincent with a 2nd place and a victory, Sandrine is always in front …, at the moment that's all very satisfactory. The French are all very good in shooting, but the majority is in skiing far behind the world top. How can you explain this ? This is quite simple to explain : in France there are no biathlon clubs that take over the education for the youth. The education concentrates only upon the cross-country. The children are not until a certain age motivated to do biathlon. Then these are not necessarily the fastest ones which orientate themselves to biathlon and, that's why one is a little bit slow on ski. Which aims do you have in the world cup and for the Mixed relay in Pokljuka? For the world cup it is like every year important to know that France belongs to 5 best nations, for the moment one is 4th with the boys and 5th with the girls in the nation cup. This is satisfying … it's good. What concerns the Mixed-Relay, this is for France a beautiful goal if one takes into consideration that the boys, as well as the girls reach regularly the podium. In these world championships we have good chances. 
What is possible in Olympics ? Perhaps a new Albertville for the women …Yes, the games …! This is of course the biggest aim and of course we have ambitions. If one has such people like Raphael and Sandrine and may also have hopes in the relay … yesterday, we've seen that the girls can win in the relay and the boys can also reach a podium. Besides, we have Vincent who has done very good progress, just like Florence Baverel … in the individual races one has a big potential, so that is a beautiful aim. Besides, the games are practically at home, because they are only on the other side of the border. One runs practically at home and accordingly I hope that many fans will be there, what is a big advantage. With the women only Sansan, Flo and Delph have the qualification for Olympics. However, there are four start places what happens if the others do not reach the qualification? What concerns the relay it's a little bit different. We have at least 3 athletes who have fulfilled the individual criterion. The 4th person must not necessarily have reached it, so there will be no problems to run a relay at Olympic games. The problem would perhaps be to have a replacement, a 5th person, so we have to go on working and hope that the next races run well to have at least 5 boys and 5 girls there. 
With Julie, Pauline and Delph 3 young athletes are already firm sizes in the world cup and with Pauline Macabies or Marion Blondeau one has big talents in the are of juniors. So one can also expect a lot with look at Vancouver in 201, can't we?Yes, that's right. But we must go on working after the games in Turin with sight of the games in 2010, so that all young athletes do furthermore progress. One does this already since the beginning of the season. One has put a training centre on the legs which gathers all young hopes, so that they can train together with executives for readiness. Of course, one will go on working under these good perspectives, to have for the next games at least 5 good boys and 5 good girls. Raphael trains with his wife Liv Grete together and participates only in few training camps with the team. Can one not "oblige" him to train more often with the team? The young athletes could learn a lot from him … for sure, it wouldn't be a disadvantage ! Raphael has differentiated himself this year a little bit from the group, but for him it is also not easy: he has a family, his wife is a Norwegian, he lives in Norway and little Emma grows up and needs more and more attention. It is not like 2 years ago at the world championships here where she was still a baby and where one did not have to occupy himself so much with her. And now it is, really, a problem for him to remain for longer time with the team, although the youths need him as a model. But now … it is so, one cannot change it anyway and in the meantime the youths take more a Sandrine Bailly or a Vincent Defrasne as a model. But also with this small "blemish" Raphael remains the big model for the whole young generation without every doubt. Next to Raph and Vincent, Julien and Féfé are also qualified for Olympics, but Féfé's shape in the moment is not breathtaking. But Simon has done 2 very good races in Osrblie. Could he receive a chance for Olympia, in spite of the missing qualification ? At the moment nobody is set. The athletes have reached the qualification criterion, but for a moment the choice is not finished. This will be on the 20th January, but it's right that 4 athletes have fulfilled the minimum to go to Turin. But, of course, there are still the others, there are the successors. Naturally would be there Simon who was very good in Osrblie and has on top of that a 16th place. Then there is still Alex Aubert who also already has a part and a 16th place, Lionel Grebot with a part of the qualification and a 17th place … one has to wait of we can take another boy with us. 
Vincent Jay is quite good in the junior area. Why doesn't he get a chance in the world cup? From the other young boys, not all could show good results. In the Norwegian team it was profitable to give a chance to Emil Svendsen or Julie Bonnevie-Svendsen …Vincent Jay is good, but not very good … he's good, a good junior ! He has already done races against the seniors, but was not in the front, so he has at the moment still no place in the world cup. We'll see after the world championships and the European championships, at the end of the season, what happens. Probably it will be the same like for Simon Fourcade and Pauline Jacquin who have won medals in the world championships in Bessans and competed in the world cup final in Oslo. Instantly he has no place, but he can win it for the future. How do you judge the changes in the biathlon? The introduction of a Mixed-relay, night races and show races like "Auf Schalke". Are they really good for biathlon and the athletes ? I think the Mixed-relay is very good to stir up a certain dynamism in the nations. There are many nations that do not have 4 athletes of a gender and this also gives a chance to these nations to do good races, so it is very good. What concerns the night races, I think that is really a beautiful thing (one has seen it in Ruhpolding the last year). It is a change, an innovation and it does a good impression. The only difficulty is the effort which the athletes must produce lately in the evening: then it makes difficulties for them to fall asleep; but this is the only problem. And Schalke, this to do advertisement and to attract sponsors. What concerns the preparations of the athletes, it is difficult to handle with it : Schalke is between 2 world cups, between the holidays, in a phase where the athletes again need a lot of training and, therefore, it is, really, a problem. But I think that the biathlon needs such events, perhaps not in Germany, but in other nations like France, where biathlon has to become more famous and must get a better image. Interview made by Anne Gassner & Karolin Hemp in January 2006
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