Handing a gun to a thief might not seem like the wisest move but here at the Winter Olympics it equates to the ultimate sporting triumph.
Less than four months after receiving a three-month suspended prison sentence in a French court for stealing two credit cards from a team-mate and a member of staff and embarking on a £1,700 online shopping spree, Julia Simon bagged a second Olympic gold medal in the biathlon.
Three days on from winning the mixed relay, the 29-year-old from Albertville triumphed in the 15km individual event with a dominant display, finishing 53 seconds ahead of her compatriot Lou Jeanmonnot, and more than 8½ minutes clear of her victim, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, in 80th place.
Simon made up for a single miss on the shooting range with a powerful skiing performance on the track
MATTHEW CHILDS/REUTERS
Braisaz-Bouchet, who is also 29 and from Albertville, no doubt hopes that, having proved such a straight shooter at the Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena, Simon now stays on the straight and narrow.
“Now, I’d like to be left alone, honestly, because I read some things last night that weren’t pleasant,” Simon told Eurosport. “I proved I belong here today, and I had even proved myself before. I don’t have anything left to prove to anyone, and now I’d like to be left alone to do my biathlon.
“The past is behind us within the team. We’ve talked things through. Now, we’re here to win medals, to do biathlon. Today, we showed that again. So please, stop, whether it’s the media or the public. It would be really appreciated by everyone.”
The ten-times world champion also received a six-month ban from her sport in November, with five of those months suspended, allowing her to compete in the Games.
Simon told a hearing that she could not remember stealing the bank cards and using them to shop online
JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK/AFP
On October 24 last year, Simon was found guilty of theft and credit card fraud, having repeatedly used bank cards belonging to Braisaz-Bouchet and a French biathlon team staff member to make online purchases totalling more than €2,000 (about £1,700).
“I can’t explain it,” Simon said at the hearing in Albertville. “I don’t remember doing it. I can’t make sense of it.”
After admitting to the thefts and apologising to her victims, the court also ordered Simon to pay a €15,000 fine.
Her federation had suggested after the case that its first priority was to “take all necessary measures to protect the interests of the athletes, the coaching staff and the team environment”.
Simon’s victim, Braisaz-Bouchet, finished down in 80th place, more than eight minutes behind the winner
ODD ANDERSEN/AFP
But on November 6 she was issued with a sanction that enabled her to make a swift return to the sport in pursuit of Olympic glory. She was also hit with a further fine of €30,000 by her federation’s national disciplinary committee.
As well as her ten world titles, including four last year in Switzerland, Simon won mixed relay silver at the Beijing Games four years ago.
These victories, however, should mean she can command the kind of sponsorship revenue that recoups the cost of those fines.