Chevalier and Johansson: Retiring, “A Hard Decision”

France's Chloe Chevalier and Sweden’s Tilda Johansson were successful biathletes, but both retired this winter at the relatively young ages of 29 and 25. Unlike JT Boe and his brother Tarjei, who recently announced retirement after years of titles and success, these two young women made the hard decision to retire earlier in their career with a degree of trepidation but the resolve to move on.

"My sister’s tears"

Both reached the pinnacle of their career in the 2022/23 season. Chevalier, with 105 WC starts garnered her only World Cup individual podium that season, a clean-shooting second in the Antholz Sprint, while topping the podium twice in World Cup relays. Recalling Antholz, “I will never forget my sister’s tears and how she ran to me at the finish line.”

Johansson’s biggest successes were winning the 2023 IBU Cup Total Score while recording five individual podiums. The two IBU Open European Championships Silver medals in Lenzerheide, “stand out. They were my first championships as a senior and I brought home three medals, it was awesome!”

“Hard Decision”

However, both have now walked away, admitting they “love biathlon” but could not continue competing. Chevalier explained, “It was a hard decision, a balance between fears about “after biathlon” and the feeling that I’m done with competitions. Biathlon was my life for more than 10 years; I love this sport but… my motivation to compete wasn’t strong enough to continue.”

Johansson called it, “one of the hardest decisions I've ever made. I've been a biathlete my whole life, all my friends are biathletes, and my life was all about biathlon. I didn't know what I would do without biathlon, and I was afraid of what would happen. I still love biathlon.”

Losing “the joy”

For Johansson, internal stress and desire to succeed dominated her decision. “I had a hard time feeling good as an elite athlete. But elite sports weren't for me, all the pressure and stress, I couldn't handle it…. I put a lot of pressure on myself, I wanted to do everything 110%, every training session, every day. I couldn't relax and disconnect from biathlon. My whole life revolved around biathlon…Eventually the joy and motivation disappeared.”

Chevalier similarly lost the joy, despite IBU Cup individual and mixed relay podiums this season. “It was mainly about the loss of joy in competing, I no longer felt fulfilled in the world of high-level sports and competition.”

Chevalier, “no regrets”

Both young women are happy after moving on. Chevalier has, “No regrets…I’m happy, I feel good with my choice; I’m lucky to have been able to choose to retire. It was my decision, not because of injury, illness or anything else.”

“I enjoy being Tilda”

The four-year younger Johansson is happy but still wonders, “I think every day about whether it was the right decision; if I quit too early, and what I would have done differently… some days I regret my decision, but some days I enjoy just being Tilda….playing football, not being afraid of catching a cold, and being more flexible.”

“Saying yes to every offer from my friends”

After 13 years of international biathlon competitions, Chevalier is taking, “some time to enjoy with friends and family, and not always be dictated by training and recovery. Then, I hope to find new projects where I can feel the same passion I had for biathlon and put all my energy into.” At the same time, she enjoys the freedom to, “travel, and finally saying yes to every offer from my friends, opportunities and new experiences that I had to decline when I was an athlete.”

Johansson remains deeply immersed in the sport, “working at the biathlon high school in Sollefteå, coaching and helping future stars...I love my job, getting a lot of joy from seeing young active people develop.”

Watching biathlon “with a cup of coffee and some chocolate”

Both follow their friends and rivals on television. Chevalier, “loves my new way of watching biathlon with a cup of coffee and some chocolate, without any guilt or thoughts of what I can improve to compete with them.”

Johansson finds, “it, honestly, really hard some days watching my friends compete, and I wish I didn't know biathlon existed. Other days, I can't wait to watch them. I will always support my friends. I'm happy for them when they succeed, because I know how much work they've put in.”

The Swede put early retirement in perspective. “I wish I had the courage to broaden the picture, to realize that biathlon is not everything. I am not biathlon; I am a girl who enjoys biathlon.”

Photos: IBU/Christian Manzoni, Archive, Tilda Johansson, Chloe Chevalier

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