Daviet plans for successful Nordic Worlds

"The staff and the athletes are like a family. We work hard together to succeed.”

France’s World Championships medallist and runner up in the IPC Biathlon World Cup Benjamin Daviet is already planning how to make the coming season more successful than the previous two.

After winning five medals at the last edition in Cable, USA, in 2015 he is hoping for more silverware in the upcoming World Championships in Finsterau, Germany from 10-19 February 2017.

“My goals for the season are obviously to pick up a World Championship individual medal and try to keep our title as world champions in the relay,” said Daviet.

His target is not an unreasonable one as last season saw him win his first ever biathlon race at the opening World Cup round in Tyumen, Russia.

“It was fantastic to get my first victory in biathlon. Tyumen is a difficult track but I knew physically I could manage it and I did an almost perfect shooting. I was so happy to win because it took a lot of training and personal sacrifice to get there.”

However he also acknowledges that it will not be easy to win a gold medal or the overall World Cup title. The men’s standing category that he competes in has some of the toughest competitors in the sport.

In order to try and beat the others Daviet is concentrating on his summer training and continually improving all aspects of his technique.

“There is still a lot to do but I'm working hard because this summer we are doing more physical training hours. I am doing a lot of technical work on the skis and in shooting. You have to go into the details that I hope will make the difference.”

This approach has worked for him already as he enjoyed his best biathlon World Cup season ever including two wins and five podium finishes, leaving him second overall. In cross-country he added another victory along with three more podiums to finish the season in third place.

He credits the whole French Para Nordic team as a big factor in his success.

“It was a very good season for me and for the team too. I stayed physically fit throughout the season and our staff worked a lot for us so that we could achieve our goals. The staff and the athletes are like a family. We work hard together to succeed.”

Although this season is all about the World Cup and the World Championships, the 27-year-old will also take the opportunity to do some homework for the 2018 Paralympics when PyeongChang, South Korea, hosts a World Cup round in March.

“I’m taking it one step at a time. First there is the World Cup and then the World Championships. But yes I think we all really want to go to see the tracks, the site and the accommodation to see what to expect in the Paralympic Games.”