Winter Olympics 2026: France’s Julia Simon wins biathlon gold medal, 4 months after conviction for stealing from teammate
In October, French biathlete Julia Simon was found guilty of theft and credit card fraud. On Wednesday, she earned her first individual Olympic gold medal.
Simon won the women’s individual biathlon Wednesday in Italy with a time of 41:15.6, adding to a trophy case that already included a gold from the mixed relay earlier this week. Fellow Frenchwoman Lou Jeanmonnot took silver, with Bulgaria’s Lora Hristova receiving bronze.
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French president Emmanuel Macron sent a congratulatory message to both Simon and Jeanmonnot.
Simon entered the final shooting with the second-best time in a close race, but left it with a commanding lead because the leader, Germany’s Franziska Preuss missed two shots and incurred a two-minute penalty, while the third-place Lisa Hauser of Austria missed three times. Simon missed only once the entire race.
Of course, Simon’s biggest break might have been being allowed to participate in the race at all.
Via The Associated Press, Simon avoided jail time in French court four months ago with a three-month suspended prison sentence. She had admitted to repeatedly using the bank card of her teammate Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and a French team staff member, making online purchases of more than 2,000 euros.
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Simon apologized to the victims, and implied she wasn’t in her right mind during the crimes:
“I can’t explain it. I don’t remember doing it. I can’t make sense of it,” Simon said during her trial.
Braisaz-Bouchet finished 80th in the same race Wednesday.
While Simon didn’t go to prison, she still faced discipline from the French ski federation. The organization’s disciplinary committee opted to give her a six-month ban, but with five of the months suspended, opening the door for her to compete in the Milan Cortina Games. She was also fined 30,000 euros, but with half of that suspended.
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Speaking on Wednesday, Simon said she was focused on preparing for the race when asked about her recent troubles, via the AP:
“I have a lot of pleasure, when I train, when I race, when I compete, so it’s the most important thing for me,” she said. “I know I had a goal. I put all my energy in this goal, in myself. It was difficult months but I’m really proud of myself and today was a perfect race for me.”
The 29-year-old Simon has won 10 golds in the biathlon world championships between individual and team events and won silver in the mixed relay at the Beijing Games in 2022.
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