In October, French biathlete Julia Simon was found guilty of theft and credit card fraud. On Wednesday, she won her first individual Olympic gold medal.
Simone won the women’s individual biathlon title in Italy on Wednesday in a time of 41 minutes, 15.6 seconds, having already won mixed relay gold earlier in the week. France’s Lou Jeanmonnot won silver and Bulgaria’s Lora Hristova won bronze.
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French President Macron sent a congratulatory message to Simon and Jean Monnot.
Simon entered the final with the second best result in a fierce competition, but because the leading German player Franziska Preuss missed twice and received a two-minute penalty, while the third Austrian player Lisa Hauser missed three times, she finally took the absolute advantage. Simon only missed once in the entire game.
Of course, Simon’s biggest break may be being allowed to play.
According to the Associated Press, Simon was given a three-month suspended sentence in a French court four months ago to avoid jail time. She admitted to using the bank cards of teammate Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and a France team staff member to make online purchases of more than 2,000 euros on multiple occasions.
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Simon apologized to the victim and suggested she was delirious during the crime:
“I can’t explain it. I don’t remember doing it. I can’t understand it,” Simon said during the trial.
Braisaz-Bouchet finished 80th in the same race on Wednesday.
Although Simone did not go to jail, she still faced disciplinary action from the French Ski Federation. The organization’s disciplinary committee chose to give her a six-month ban, but five of those months were suspended, opening the door for her to compete in Milan-Cortina. She was also fined 30,000 euros, half of which was suspended.
Asked about the recent troubles Wednesday, via The Associated Press, Simon said she was focusing on preparing for the competition:
“I have a lot of fun when I train, compete, compete, so that’s the most important thing to me,” she said. “I knew I had a goal. I put all my energy into that goal and into myself. It’s been a tough few months, but I’m really proud of myself and today was a perfect race for me.”
Simon, 29, has won 10 gold medals in individual and team events at the Biathlon World Championships and a silver medal in the mixed relay at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
