At the IBU World Championships Biathlon 2021 Pokljuka, we have seen numerous amazing performances, and the biathletes know how to celebrate them in style. After winning a medal at the first event of the Championships, Austrian Simon Eder treated himself with a traditional Slovenian dessert – Bled cream cake, some of the biathletes even took the kitchen ladle into their own hands, while some members of the French team soaked their feet in the ice-cold Bled Lake after Thursday’s win in the mixed relay.
Simon Eder was a member of the Austrian mixed relay team, that won the silver medal last Wednesday, on the first competition day in Pokljuka. He put his medal next to the plate with Bled cream cake, and a card placed by it, that were prepared at the hotel of the Austrian team in Bled. He posted the picture on Instagram, and wrote next to it: “Thank you, Sava Hotels Bled”.
On Friday morning, Bled Lake had only seven degrees Celsius, but that did not stop French biathletes Quentin Fillon Maillet and Simon Desthieux to soak their feet into it during their jogging on the shores of Lake Bled. They were accompanied by Emilien Jacquelin, the winner of the Sunday’s race in pursuit, but he was only observing them from a safe distance.
This reminded biathlon fans of December 2007, when the French biathlete Simon Fourcade jumped into the Lake Bled during the World Cup in Pokljuka. The French team went to the lake again on Friday afternoon and those present were able to watch Antonin Guigonnat jump into the water without hesitation.
Jacquelin’s post on Instagram proves that French also like to sing. In the video, Antonin Guigonnat, – who on Thursday won the single mixed relay event together with Julia Simon – is celebrating the title by singing the song Party Up (Up In Here) by rapper DMX.
For others, competition in Pokljuka did not go according to the plan, and here again, food had an important role. At the end of the first week of Championships, Germany still has not won a medal, so they prepared a barbecue, and grilled some home-made sausages. Franziska Preuss, who came to Pokljuka with the goal of winning a medal, was very happy to eat them. “That was delicious, and a nice change,” she said, according to German Press Agency dpa.
So far, Franziska’s best result in Pokljuka is the fifth place in Sunday’s pursuit. But apparently, the sausages gave additional energy to her team-mate Arnd Peiffer who took the second place in the Thursday’s individual event.
Peiffer was rewarded with a sweet surprise after the race – a chocolate cupcakes. The latter also made water the mouth of his national team colleague Denise Herrmann, who missed the medal with a fourth place in the hair sprint. Before the last events this weekend, she said, “We hope there will be some more chocolate cupcakes.” Franziska, meanwhile, baked her own bread rolls for Saturday’s breakfast in the hotel kitchen.
Italian Lisa Vitozzi (her best result so far is fifth place in the sprint) is also craving for home food, as she went for typical Italian dessert – tiramisu, which she prepared together with her teammates, according to the Instagram post. It’s different in the American national team, whose member Clare Egan contented herself with a pot of sour cream bought in the store.
