Justine Braisaz-Bouchet

Justine Braisaz-Bouchet (born 4 July 1996) is a French biathlete, Olympic champion in the 12.5 km mass start at the 2022 Beijing Games and medalist at the Winter Olympics 2018 and World Championships.

Biography Justine Braisaz began her biathlon career at the Saisies Sports Club. She quickly moved to the Nordic section to practice cross-country skiing and biathlon. During the 2011/2012 season, in the Cadette U16 category, she won the French Championship of cross-country skiing and the French Championship of Biathlon, thanks to her speed on skis. She moved to Biathlon fully in the following year representing the Junior category (U19).

During the 2012/2013 season, the first year in this category, Justine Braisaz was selected for the 2013 Junior World Championships in Obertilliach, Austria. She finished 46th in the individual race and 71st in the sprint.

The following year, she was promoted to the highest class at the Junior World Championships in Presque Isle (USA). She finished the individual race ranked 29th, 5th place in the sprint, and 15th in pursuit. In the relay, she placed 6th with partners Coline Varcin and Chloé Chevalier.

In the same year (2012/2013), she participated in the European Championships held in Nové Město, Czech Republic. She ranked 12th in the individual race, 18th in the sprint, 14th in the pursuit, and 8th in the mixed relay with Chloé Chevalier, Dany Chavoutier, and Clément Dumont. At the French Championships held in Prémanon in December 2013, she won two French Champion titles (Sprint and Pursuit). In March, she climbed into second place in the Mass Start behind Julie Cardon during the French Biathlon Championships. Her progress was of such a magnitude that she managed to earn her place to compete with the best French biathletes in the summer events of the Biathlon Summer Tour.

For the 2014/2015 season, she joined the French Youth / Junior Biathlon Team. In the first stage of the 2014/2015 season of the IBU Cup in Beitostølen, Norway, Justine Braisaz took her first podium finish with a second place in the second sprint. The day before, she finished 10th in the sprint event. This was her first international podium, and as a result, she was selected for the Biathlon World Cup.

Justine Braisaz made her Biathlon World Cup debut on 12 December 2014 in Hochfilzen (2014/2015 season), Norway. She ranked 17th in the sprint, becoming the youngest athlete in the world's top 20. The next day she placed 9th in the relay with her French teammates; Marine Bolliet, Enora Latuillière, and Anaïs Bescond. A week later, she improved her best performance by finishing 14th in the Pokljuka sprint and qualifying for the Mass Start with the top 30 biathletes. She set a new record by becoming the youngest athlete lined up on a Mass Start at only 18 years and 5 months.

She earned her first podium in her World Cup career in Oberhof, Germany, by achieving second place in the women's relay on 7 January 2015 with her teammates; Marine Bolliet, Marie Dorin-Habert and Anaïs Bescond. On 13 March 2015, at the 2015 World Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland, she won her first medal, silver, for the women's 4 x 6 km relay with Anaïs Bescond, Enora Latuillière and Marie Dorin-Habert. At the French Biathlon Championships in La Féclaz, she won the relay title with Julia Simon and Marine Bolliet. The following year, at the world championships in Oslo, Norway, she won another silver medal in the same event with Anaïs Bescond, Anaïs Chevalier, and Marie Dorin-Habert. She also achieved her best individual result when she finished 12th place in the Mass Start Competition. A week later, at the final round of the IBU World Cup season in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, she earned her first top 10 result with a 4th-place finish in the sprint event. She finished the season with a 10th-place finish in the pursuit event, which allowed her to finish her second world cup season in the 21st position overall.

At the 2016 Biathlon Championships in Méribel, France, she earned the title of French Champion by winning the Mass Start even in the U21 category. During the preseason 2016–2017, she won the sprint at the Norwegian Championships in Sjusjøen, Norway, ahead of Norway's Tiril Eckhoff and Ukraine's Julia Dzhyma. She won her first individual World Cup podium on 9 December 2016, at the Pokljuka (Slovenia) sprint, the second event of the World Cup, finishing second by 3 seconds behind Germany's Laura Dahlmeier: she was only 20 years old.

Biathlon results All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.

Olympic Games 2 medals (1 gold, 1 bronze) EventIndividualSprintPursuitRelay 2018 Pyeongchang 55th 10th 34th 20th Bronze — 2022 Beijing 40th 48th DNS Gold 6th — 2026 Milano Cortina 80th 62nd DNS 27th — —

World Championships 11 medals (4 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze)

The single mixed relay was added as an event in 2019.

Junior/Youth World Championships EventClassIndividualSprintPursuitRelay 2013 Obertilliach Youth 46th 71st — — 2014 Presque Isle Junior 29th 5th 15th 6th

World Cup World Cup rankings Season Overall Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start Races Points Position Races Points Position Races Points Position Races Points Position Races Points Position 2014–15 13/25 114 51st 2/3 8 61st 8/10 85 39th 2/7 17 57th 1/5 4 51st 2015–16 21/25 372 21st 3/3 40 24th 9/9 168 17th 7/8 123 21st 2/5 41 31st 2016–17 25/26 706 6th 3/3 63 15th 9/9 281 5th 8/9 250 6th 5/5 112 15th 2017–18 15/22 419 17th 1/2 34 20th 6/8 163 13th 5/7 133 13th 3/5 89 20th 2018–19 24/25 352 26th 3/3 61 15th 9/9 118 27th 7/8 73 36th 5/5 100 19th 2019–20 21/21 547 9th 3/3 112 3rd 8/8 166 12th 5/5 137 9th 5/5 136 9th 2020–21 26/26 511 15th 3/3 - - 10/10 209 13th 8/8 163 15th 5/5 113 12th 2021–22 22/22 581 8th 2/2 63 6th 9/9 206 12th 7/7 153 16th 4/4 162 1st 2022–23 (did not compete due to pregnancy) 2023–24 21/21 1025 4th 3/3 56 15th 7/7 410 2nd 7/7 357 4th 4/4 202 4th 2024–25 21/21 657 8th 3/3 56 17th 7/7 318 3rd 6/6 181 9th 5/5 102 17th 2025–26 21/21 597 11th 3/3 90 8th 7/7 149 11th 7/7 254 7th 4/4 104 12th

Individual podiums 14 victories (3 In, 5 Sp, 1 Pu, 5 MS); victories at Winter Olympics are not counted as World Cup victories, but are listed here. 31 podiums No. Season Date Location Discipline Level Place 1 2016–179 December 2016 Pokljuka 7.5 km Sprint Biathlon World Cup 2nd 217 March 2017 Oslo Holmenkollen 7.5 km Sprint Biathlon World Cup 2nd 318 March 2017 Oslo Holmenkollen 10 km Pursuit Biathlon World Cup 3rd 4 2017–181 December 2017 Östersund 7.5 km Sprint Biathlon World Cup 2nd 53 December 2017 Östersund 10 km Pursuit Biathlon World Cup 2nd 617 December 2017 Annecy-Le Grand-Bornand 12.5 km Mass Start Biathlon World Cup 1st 7 2018–198 December 2018 Pokljuka 7.5 km Sprint Biathlon World Cup 3rd 812 March 2019 Östersund 15 km Individual Biathlon World Championships 3rd 9 2019–205 December 2019 Östersund 15 km Individual Biathlon World Cup 1st 1020 December 2019 Annecy-Le Grand-Bornand 7.5 km Sprint Biathlon World Cup 2nd 11 2021–2210 December 2021 Hochfilzen 7.5 km Sprint Biathlon World Cup 2nd 1221 January 2022 Antholz-Anterselva 15 km Individual Biathlon World Cup 1st 1318 February 2022 Beijing 12.5 km Mass Start Winter Olympic Games 1st 1420 March 2022 Oslo Holmenkollen 12.5 km Mass Start Biathlon World Cup 1st 15 2023–248 December 2023 Hochfilzen 7.5 km Sprint Biathlon World Cup 3rd 1614 December 2023 Lenzerheide 7.5 km Sprint Biathlon World Cup 1st 1716 December 2023 Lenzerheide 10 km Pursuit Biathlon World Cup 1st 1817 December 2023 Lenzerheide 12.5 km Mass Start Biathlon World Cup 1st 195 January 2024 Oberhof 7.5 km Sprint Biathlon World Cup 1st 206 January 2024 Oberhof 10 km Pursuit Biathlon World Cup 2nd 21 9 February 2024 Nové Město 7.5 km Sprint Biathlon World Championships 2nd 22 11 February 2024 Nové Město 10 km Pursuit Biathlon World Championships 3rd 23 18 February 2024 Nové Město 12.5 km Mass Start Biathlon World Championships 1st 24 8 March 2024 Soldier Hollow 7.5 km Sprint Biathlon World Cup 1st 25 16 March 2024 Canmore 10 km Pursuit Biathlon World Cup 3rd 26 2024–2520 December 2024 Annecy-Le Grand-Bornand 7.5 km Sprint Biathlon World Cup 1st 2714 February 2025 Lenzerheide 7.5 km Sprint Biathlon World Championships 1st 2816 February 2025 Lenzerheide 10 km Pursuit Biathlon World Championships 3rd 297 March 2025 Nové Město 7.5 km Sprint Biathlon World Cup 2nd 30 2025–2621 December 2025 Annecy-Le Grand-Bornand 12.5 km Mass Start Biathlon World Cup 3rd 3123 January 2026 Nové Město 12.5 km Short Individual Biathlon World Cup 1st

Relay victories

11 victories

Personal life In 2020, Braisaz married her coach and biathlete, Julien Bouchet. She gave birth to their daughter Côme in February 2023 and returned to the Biathlon World Cup in November 2023. In October 2025, a credit card scandal surrounding the French biathlon team led to the conviction of her teammate Julia Simon. Simon was found guilty of using credit cards belonging to her and a team staff member for unauthorized online purchases.