Young biathlete resigns. © Social Media

“I’ll stop biathlon before I get disgusted with it”

The biathlon season is over. This is often the time when athletes draw a line under their own careers. A farewell is particularly emotional.

March 19, 2024

From: det

It's not always just the resignations of big names that cause a stir. It is often the fates of the supposedly unknown biathletes that get under your skin.

This is what happened to the Frenchwoman Chloé Bened. She is hardly known to biathlon connoisseurs, because her palmarès includes “only” two vice-European junior championship titles and a few appearances in the IBU Cup. Her resignation at the age of 21 still attracted attention because her words allowed Bened to look deep into her soul.

A long period of suffering

“I'll stop biathlon before I become disgusted with my passion,” she says in an interview Nordicmag. “For the third time in a row I had to end my winter early this year due to an injury. This time it’s the back and the shins,” said the young Frenchwoman. Injuries that puzzled the doctors and could not be resolved even with several attempts at therapy.

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A post shared by Chloe Bened (@chloe.bened)

Mentally, the situation was anything but easy. “Between 2023 and 2024 there were events in my life that took a toll on me both physically and mentally. That’s why I decided at the turn of the year that I was going to quit.”

Despite everything, this was not an easy decision. “There is heartbreak because biathlon was my passion and I couldn't achieve my goals. At the same time, it's a relief to stop before this sport disgusts me." Now Chloé Bened wants to train as a beautician.