Name a more likable biathlete than Lou Jeanmonnot. I’m serious. Name one. We are blessed that in this era of biathlon we have many men and women who bring us joy. They make us smile win or otherwise. But names one that is more likable than Ms. Jeanmonnot. She must have an approval rating nearing 100%. It’s unlike near anything else in the sport…or really unlike nearly anything else in an increasingly polarized world.
Are you French? Well you definitely love her. Italian? How could you not. German? Well if Franziska Preuß is friends with her so are we. Norwegian? Absolutely. Swedish? Okay maybe the Swedish fans don’t like her every minute, especially when she’s taking so many wins, but there you’ll be hard pressed to find one who truly doesn’t like her.
So what is it? What is it that makes Lou Jeanmonnot so immensely likable? Because it’s been this way nearly since she first arrived on the biathlon circuit. Check social media when she’s racing and you’ll be treated to numerous messages that look something like this: “LLLLOOOOOOOUUUUUUUU!” Go back and look at messages from 2-3 years ago and it’s the same.
It’s not uncommon for the newbie to be beloved. But here she is several seasons into being a superstar and everybody still loves her. So why? What is it about Lou Jeanmonnot that just turns everybody into a fan?
Is it the style?
Lou Jeanmonnot does have a unique and immediately recognizable style. When she’s racing on the course you immediately see the ponytail of thick curly brown hair bouncing happily as she powers along. Anybody here been to a race? You can tell it’s her even if you’ve can’t see the bib or her face.
When she’s on the range does anybody have a more classic stare? The steely gaze of her uncovered left eye locking on to the targets. The ice blue eye looks fearsome as she routinely knocks down every target. There is an almost otherworldly cold confidence when she is standing there like a statue. Rarely a doubt that she’s going to hit everything she aims at.
And of course there are the tattoos. They are numerous from the distinctive flower design on her left hand, so readily visible in her post race interviews to the large bird spreading across her abdomen you only see in her summer training/races. Jeanmonnot is open about her love of tattoos and the meaning behind each of its designs. It’s not that tattoos are unique in the biathlon field, but Jeanmonnot’s coverage sure is.
Is it the winning?
The incredible champion part is easy to see. In her debut season, the 2022-2023 season, she finished 11th in the Overall at just 24 years old. With two podiums and nine top 10’s, driven by 90.3 shooting, Jeanmonnot declared herself a future contender.
As it turns out the future wasn’t all that far away. The following year Jeanmonnot gained not just her first career victory, but three more along with it. To that she added 12 total podiums along with tremendous consistency racking up 18 top 10’s in 23 starts. This included one of the most remarkable stretches of performance that we saw that year running up eight podiums in the final nine World Cup races. It helped her erase a fairly significant gap accumulated when she missed two races in Annecy-le Grand Bornand due to illness. She ultimately wound up 2nd in Overall just 23 points back.
Of course we all remember what happened in 2024-2025. Lou Jeanmonnot and Franziska Preuß went head to head in one of the great Overall battles that we will ever see. Trading blows like two heavy weights right until the end. Jeanmonnot took a World Cup best eight victories in the season including the Oslo-Holmenkollen Pursuit to take the Yellow bib for the final day of the race.
She matched Preuß literally blow for blow and shot for shot all race. Coming to the final shoot they were together in the lead group and both went a remarkable 5/5 in the final shoot. It set up for a thrilling final lap. While Lou Jeanmonnot made a move with just under 1km to go she couldn’t shake Franzi. Then of course there was moment we will all remember with the fall on the corner. Franziska Preuß crossed the line in 1st place and secured the Overall Globe.
In total that year she ran up another eight wins, 11 podiums, and 21 top 10’s in 25 races making her easily the most winning athlete over that two season stretch. Her skiing was better than ever and hitting just a shade under 92% of her shots.
This season she came into the season, for obvious reasons, as one of the favorites to once again compete for the Overall. After a mildly slow start to the year in Östersund she collected her first win of the year in the Hochfilzen Sprint. She took Yellow in Annecy-le Grand Bornand when she finished 2nd in the Sprint, won the Pursuit, and 2nd once again in the Mass Start.
From that point on the lead never got closer than 50 points after Suvi Minkkinen has a great week in Oberhof. Of course Lou responded by finishing 2nd, 1st, 2nd, and 4th in the final four races of trimester 2 to give herself a commanding 202 point lead. At that point while not a “done deal” the only real question was how much would her final margin of victory be?
Ultimately, after a campaign that included three victories, 11 podiums, and 19 top 10’s Lou Jeanmonnot cruised to an Overall victory with a margin of 177 points over Hanna Öberg.
Let’s take a look at her cumulative statistics over that four year period:
– 1 Overall Globe
– 6 Discipline Globes
– 15 wins
– 36 podiums
– 67 top 10’s
– 4 Olympic medals including Individual 🥈 and Sprint 🥉
– 7 World Championship medals
In total that makes her the winningest woman over the last three seasons by four wins over Julia Simon, along with most podiums as well as. And of course those Globes don’t hurt. But plenty of people win a lot. Not everybody has the adoration of Lou Jeanmonnot.
Is it the grace?
Win or lose you will rarely see Jeanmonnot pouting. The French rarely have bad skis, but even on the rare days that they do, you won’t hear her complaining about it. She doesn’t throw teammates under the bus. She doesn’t throw techs under the bus. She doesn’t ever complain about coaching. And she never complains about weather. She may point things out, but she does it in such a way that it doesn’t sound like whining, just factual.
In the finishing stretch she will happily greet basically any winner. It really doesn’t matter who wins, she seems genuinely happy for them. This season her top competitor for the Overall for much of the season was Suvi Minkkinen. What happened when Suvi Minkkinen overtook and beat her late in a race? Lou and Suvi embraced with smiles and laughter.
Jeanmonnot also seems to understand her role the field, now as one of the respected leaders of the pack. She knows that it means something to younger or less established athletes to be greeted by her. It’s a real mark of approval.
With her close friendship with Justine Braisaz-Bouchet you may forgive her for not feeling as close to Julia Simon. However, regardless of the situation she always made sure to at least give Simon a fist bump. Lately there have been more signs of thawing relationship (in a good way) as Jeanmonnot went out of her way to congratulate Julia Simon following the finish of her narrow loss to Hanna Öberg in this weekend’s Pursuit. That was just the latest episode where Jeanmonnot seems to be willing to open doors to her teammate.
The ultimate show of grace came at the conclusion of the 2024-2025 season. As noted above she was in a pitched battle with Preuß the entire season. Ultimately the race came down to the final day. The final shoot. Then the final lap. When Jeanmonnot went down in the sharp turn into the arena, it wasn’t immediately clear if possible Preuß had cut her off. Due to this the French team did put in a protest to ensure the ability to review it. However, before the protest was even investigated Jeanmonnot waved it off saying quite clearly that she did it to herself. She did not want anything taking the shine away from Preuß.
Jeanmonnot then sat, and later stood, at the finish line arm in arm with the woman who had just defeated her. Chances at the Overall Globe are no sure thing. There is no reason to believe that they will come around every year. No guarantee that Lou Jeanmonnot was going to come closer to winning the Globe and etching her name in history than she was at that very moment. But what did she do? She did everything in her power to uplift the woman she had battled all season long.
We would later find out that this was no ordinary kindness. This wasn’t a show. Lou Jeanmonnot had clearly developed a true bond with Franzi. During the summer of 2025 the two vacationed at each other’s homes and trained with each other.
Is it something else?
The sun was setting quickly on what turned into a cold, cloudy, and breezy day in Holmenkollen. One of the women on the superlative French biathlon team caught sight of a couple of North Americans taking in the Overall Globe ceremony for Eric Perrot. Having chatted with these two the last few days in the media mixed zone, she walked over and offered a drink from her homemade concoction. And then she just stayed with them and chatted, soaking in the atmosphere. Cheering for Eric and just generally reflecting in the glow.
Those two men, as you have guessed were myself and my podcast co-host RJ Weise. The athlete was Lou Jeanmonnot who had just capped off a glorious 2025-2026 campaign by raising the Overall Globe herself in a ceremony that had brought tears to all who witnessed it. (It should also be noted that the drink she made was a delicious one most closely related to a Mojito and I would drink it nearly anywhere, any time, and any place).
It was an absolutely surreal moment. Lou Jeanmonnot had only recently been crowned the new Queen of Biathlon. Throughout the weekend, and season, she drew enormous cheers wherever she went. It took ages for her to make her way through her media zone every day because everybody wanted time with her, and she was generous with her time. After completing her media obligations she walked down the length of the grandstands greeting fans, signing autographs, and taking pictures. What was she doing talking to us right then when she was on top of the world? She could have been celebrating with her friends. Or hugging her parents. Or generally doing anything’s she wanted. Instead she was spending her time with two North Americans who she has only talked to on a handful of previous occasions.
That evening in Holmenkollen, while watching Eric Perrot hoist his trophy high in the cold damp Norwegian air, I mentioned to Lou Jeanmonnot that what impresses me the most about her is that at the end of the day, the women she is in the biggest battles with (Franziska Preuß and Suvi Minkkinen most recently) seem to come away as her best buddies. Just the previous week Minkkinen and Jeanmonnot engaged in a sprint for 2nd in the Pursuit and immediately embraced with genuine smiles at the conclusion. And even bigger, look at her Overall Globe ceremony that had taken place earlier that afternoon? Who came out to present it to her? Franziska Preuß, the women who beat Jeanmonnot for last season’s Overall Globe when Jeanmonnot fell going around the infamous corner. It brought tears to Lou’s eyes seeing her.
It was in that moment Lou Jeanmonnot gave us her secret: She enjoys winning. It’s a lot of fun. But what she really considers to be a victory is making friends and building relationships. The biathlon family, she says, is the most important thing to her. It’s really this simple. I know many will read this and not believe it but I will take this to my grave, and RJ will back me up, this is exactly what she told us that evening over a shared cocktail.
That’s what makes Lou Jeanmonnot beloved. That’s what makes her such an incredible champion. Sure it’s the unique style she brings to the sport. Sure it’s the 15 wins and 36 podiums, the 6 discipline Globes, and the 2025-2026 Overall. And sure it’s the grace with which she collects all of those wins and podiums. But it is far more than that. It’s how she truly looks at the people in front of her. She looks everybody in the eye and truly makes an effort to answer their questions. She tries to make connections even in the small moments. Like when two guys she doesn’t really know all that much from North America wait for 45 minutes to interview her in the mixed zone she stays to answer every question, never showing any sign that she was considering moving on.
It’s what led her to seek us out in that beautiful moment during Eric Perrot’s ceremony. She was doing what she truly owes most: making connections. She was making friends. That’s her true passion. For that I am beyond grateful. Yes of course for the memory that I will carry with me for a lifetime. But because I have a little girl at home who is starting to watch the sport with me. Because Lou Jeanmonnot is showing to her, and all of the little girls that watch her (and let’s be honest the adults too), that yes, strive to be the best. Aim for top. Take those wins and don’t apologize for being great. But don’t forget about the real victory to be found in the relationships we forge with those around us. Every day there is the opportunity to make a connection, to make somebody smile. To make somebody felt seen and heard. To make somebody feel love.
As a fan, and more importantly as a father of a little girl who is quickly becoming a Lou Jeanmonnot fan, I feel honored and privileged to have Lou Jeanmonnot as our 2025-2026 Overall Globe winner. Thank you Lou, for all of it!
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