“A loner who cannot work in a collective”: Martin Fourcade's resignation is a “breath of fresh air”, according to the president of the Paca region

Martin Fourcade's resignation as president of the organizing committee for the 2030 Winter Olympics is “paradoxically (…) a breath of fresh air”, reacted the president of the Paca Region Renaud Muselier on Monday, February 3, considering that the former champion “cannot work as a team”.

“Paradoxically, a situation that was considered a cold snap with his departure is in fact a breath of fresh air”, Mr. Muselier told AFP, for whom Martin Fourcade, five-time Olympic biathlon champion, “is a very high-level athlete but he is a loner, who cannot work in a team”.

“Everyone around the table was very unpleasantly surprised by what he did”, added Mr. Muselier (Renaissance), estimating that “this boy has been leading us on since the start” by multiplying the “conditions”.

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“He knows the project by heart and now pretending that he doesn't like Lyon, to leave, when it was validated in the Prime Minister's office two months ago, is not serious!”, said Mr. Muselier, in reference to a request from Martin Fourcade not to set up the headquarters of the Cojo in this city, too far from Annecy where he lives, in Haute-Savoie.

“This departure handicaps us”

Asked about the other candidates for the post of president of the Cojo, for which Martin Fourcade was the clear favorite, Mr. Muselier affirmed that “there are avenues that are opening up”, with new “names that say “until now we did not want to create difficulties between athletes””.

He nevertheless considered that this “departure handicaps us because it makes us lose time”.

In a joint statement, the Paca (Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur) and Aura (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) regions, the French Olympic Committee and Paralympic Committee regretted the decision of the former biathlete.

“Even though all opinions seemed to converge in favor of him becoming president of the COJOP, for personal reasons and we respect, he does not wish to go further. He will undoubtedly contribute to the success of the project that he himself participated in writing”, the institutions indicated.