Olympic Champion Skips Biathlon Season to Focus on Cycling as 2030 Dream Lives On

Emilien Jacquelin, the French Olympic biathlon champion, is skipping the 2026–27 biathlon season to focus on professional cycling. The 31-year-old confirmed the decision on September 22 in a video released by the French Ski Federation, saying he will not do “next winter with the biathlon team,” while continuing cycling for the coming months. The switch has been developing since spring, after he joined Decathlon-CMA CGM as a trainee and spent the summer transitioning from skis to a bicycle, including races such as La Polynormande and events at the Tours of Limousin and Britain. A training crash in May on a wet, oil-covered road left him with a broken collarbone requiring surgery, though he recovered quickly. Jacquelin said cycling feels psychologically simpler than biathlon and cited joy regained during the Milano Cortina Olympics, where he won pursuit bronze and relay gold.