Jeanne Richard, biathlete: “High-level sport means constantly going back to square one“
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Jeanne Richard is the latest addition to the French biathlon team. This 23-year-old athlete supported by the Caisse d’Epargne Rhône Alpes has managed to earn her place in this ultra-competitive squad that boasts as members some of the world’s top-ranking biathletes. This achievement took talent and a strong personality. Meet this rising star of the French biathlon community in the following interview.
It seems that you started skiing at a very early age?
My father was an alpine ski instructor, so I started skiing when I was very young, from the age of 3. But he was also a cross-country ski instructor so I was also very young when I took up that discipline. I preferred the mindset involved in cross-country skiing, and found it more fun and appealing.
That’s amazing! Cross-country skiing is considered more difficult, an endurance sport, whereas alpine skiing comes across as more fun…
Right from the start, the focus of alpine skiing was competing. Even though I love competitions, I realized that cross-country skiing was more organized around a kind of playfulness. For me, it was just pure pleasure… The coaches staged little relays and organized fun workshops, and we enjoyed things a lot.
Did you play any other sports during your childhood?
Yes, I went skating and did judo, ski-mountaineering, tennis, cycling and even dancing. Being active in this way gave me a lot throughout my entire childhood. I really adore sport in general.
How did you get into biathlon?
Thanks to the Comité Ski Mont Blanc (the ‘Mont Blanc Ski Committee’), we had the good fortune of being able to borrow a rifle and practice shooting from the age of 15 or 16. I loved being able to train with a rifle. It was very challenging, and I felt it added something to cross-country skiing.
How did you manage to rise to the elite level?
It was a natural progression. I gradually climbed the ranks, joined the French youth teams, and eventually made it to the senior national team.
You’ve continued studying. Has it been hard to juggle between your athletic and academic pursuits?
I think it’s only natural to maintain a link with your studies. First of all, because I’m well aware that it only takes a single injury for everything to come to a halt: we work with our bodies, which are liable to suffer from an injury. Pursuing an education provides security for the future. It also brings balance. It allows me to open up to things beyond biathlon. So, after finishing high school, I started a 2-year undergraduate diploma (DUT) in business and administrative management. I take a lot of my classes remotely because I travel so much but go to Grenoble for my mid-term exams. It’s all quite well organized to enable me to pursue both activities as well as I can simultaneously.
You’ve just completed a magnificent 2024/2025 season (when you reached the podium in the individual and victory in the relay). You finished 6th in the world rankings despite still being very young…
Things just run their course. I had my ups and downs during the season, but that’s only natural. Only superhuman athletes like Johannes Boe perform well right from the outset. And even he sometimes falls short of his objectives. I’m well aware that nothing can be taken for granted, that high-level sport means constantly going back to square one, that it’s a lot of hard work.
And, yet, in your first World Cup race last year, you finished 8th with a perfect shooting round and, this year, you reached the podium in the World Cup for the first time (in Ruhpolding, Germany, in the mass start event), again with a flawless shooting round even though you were competing with the world’s very best in the last round. You’re showing a lot of composure for someone of your tender age…
These are things we work on every day, preparing ourselves for pressure. And we’re constantly put in these situations. We compete in thirty-five races a year. And, in these moments of intense pressure, I just stay focused on what I’m doing.
Did this first podium give your confidence a boost? Did it validate your hard work?
That’s exactly what it does, it makes you feel like you’re on the right track. It feels good. I was given an opportunity and I grabbed it. But after that, you know you’ve got to go out and win every race from zero. I learn from every competition.
Can you tell us more about what you like about your discipline?
What I like about biathlon, which is an individual sport, is that it’s also a collective discipline. We train as a group, and we organize team competitions, which now also include mixed events. And all this takes place in the great outdoors.
The French women’s biathlon team is currently, if not the strongest, at least one of the strongest in history. How do you feel about this?
I think it’s a plus. It’s very stimulating to live and train with the best in the world. It brings out the best in all of us. Personally, it’s a great learning experience. It’s a unique opportunity.
What’s your strong point?
I think it’s my ability to concentrate when the going gets tough. I’m really focused on the task in hand, particularly in that very important moment of transition from the skiing phase to get into shooting position. I manage that phase well.
Biathlon is a solitary discipline, and at the same time, as you explained, a collective sport in the relays. How do you manage this aspect?
I particularly like relays. It’s a completely different kind of race, and very exciting.
Some people are a bit overwhelmed by the responsibility inherent in the relay race because the slightest mistake impacts the whole team, not just yourself…
For me, it’s the opposite. Relays bring out the best in me. The energy is unique, and I gain a positive drive from being part of the relay. And when you get a good result, you share it with the whole team. It’s just beautiful!
If you had to choose one value that you hold dear in this sport?
Perseverance. Because in our sport, the slightest mistake quickly sends you back to the bottom of the pile. And it happens to everyone, even the strongest. So perseverance is essential. Never give up… And it’s a value that will serve me well later in life.
What are your next sporting events?
I really want to take part in the Olympic Games. And not as a substitute!
You’re in the best team in the world, so places are going to be hard to come by?
Yes, there are only four places, but the advantage is that if we qualify, it means we’re performing well and that we’re up to scratch!
The Olympic Games will be held next year in Italy (Milano Cortina) and then again in France in 2030. We saw with Paris 2024 what this event meant at home for French athletes. How do you feel about this future challenge?
It’s wonderful to have the Olympic Games at home, it gives you something fantastic to look forward to in the future. I hope I’ll still be part of this team and that things will have turned out well for me.
At the same time, you’re also a reserve police officer. Why this choice?
The French Ski Federation has a partnership with the police and offers contracts for us athletes. It’s a great opportunity to be part of this institution. But it’s a challenge to juggle all that with training and studies. It means being really well organized.
Could you describe one of your typical weeks?
I train six days a week. With one day off on Sunday, even though it sometimes happens that we train on Sundays. The morning session lasts between 2 and 2 hours and a half, and the afternoon session lasts 2 hours. We also have three weight training sessions a week and five or ten roller-ski outings… There’s a month-long break between seasons when I try to truly disconnect and unwind. But, as I love sport, I’m free to do other things. Right now, for example, I’m doing a ski touring race.
Do you have a particular diet? Do you follow the advice of a nutritionist?
No, I eat normally, with a balanced diet.
How did you ‘meet’ the Caisse d’Epargne Rhône Alpes and what does your partnership mean to you?
I knew that they had a strong commitment to sport, that they were very dynamic… We were put in touch through my friends and family. Thanks to this partnership, I have the financial security I need to devote myself to my sport and train to the full. But beyond the financial aspect, it’s nice to feel surrounded and supported. It gives you a boost. They understand what’s at stake. What’s more, we’re a group of athletes, and it’s nice to be part of a team. We swap ideas with the other athletes in the collective. We have a WhatsApp group, we encourage each other, we congratulate each other when we get results.
When Léo Anguenot (alpine skiing) landed his first World Cup podium at Alta Badia last December, I called him. And he did the same when I got my first World Cup podium.
Among the various partnerships it has developed, the Caisse d’Epargne Rhône Alpes has put together a ‘squad’ of about ten champions from the French ski and snowboard teams, including Jeanne Richard. They are standard-bearers for French skiing and for their region, and are potential medalists in international competitions.
