Jules Burnotte, member of Biathlon Canada’s National Team, announced Monday that he will be joining the Centre national d’entraînement Pierre Harvey (CNEPH) for the summer.

He becomes the first ever athlete other than cross-country skier to join this top notch national training center.

by pierre shanks

It’s a big step forward for Burnotte, who will no doubt benefit from high end coaching and resources, and the strongest training partners in Eastern Canada. “Jules will be a full member of the team, said Louis Bouchard, CNEPH head coach. He will benefit from all the services in muscular preparation, medical and postural evaluation, physiotherapy and massage therapy.

“When we agreed to embark in this project, we decided that we would not treat Jules any different than our other cross-country skiers. They train together and live together.”

The only difference is that at 6’5 “, he may need a slightly longer bed than the others!

Jules will be coached jointly by the renowned trio of Louis Bouchard, François Pépin and Charles Castonguay. Bouchard will liaise with Biathlon Canada’s head coach Justin Wadsworth.

“It’s not going to be a big difference from how I was working with Jules in the past, Wadsworth pointed out. I will call him and email him regularly, as well as checking his training logs. We will add Louis to his training log, so Louis can make the plan and follow his training as well.

“I also plan to check in with Louis often to see how Jules is doing from his standpoint, and share any experiences I’ve had with Jules over the time I have been coaching him.
I trust Louis, and know his style of training athletes, which I think will be a good fit for Jules.

“As with most things, communication will be key, so that will include getting information from the CNEPH IST (coaching staff), many of whom I know very well. Overall I’m very excited to have Jules in a stable training environment with a solid group of athletes.”

Wadsworth and Bouchard know each other well from their days at Cross-Country Ski Canada, now Nordiq Canada.

Burnotte will not be in unknown territory either. He knows ex-biathlete Léo Grandbois, 2017 World Youth Champion, and up and coming star Olivier Léveillé, both residents of his native Sherbrooke, QC.

Shooting

Burnotte’s main challenge at CNEPH will be shooting. There is no range at Mont Sainte-Anne.

“Pavel (Lantsov, the NT shooting coach) will follow me from afar through video sessions and shooting results,” said Burnotte. I have a new shooting gadget that collects interesting data on my shooting both dry and real.

“Pavel will be able to rely on it, but it won’t be enough to ensure world-class development over the summer. So we’ll do the maximum possible remotely, but the objective is still to join the National Team at least twice before the start of the season. It will allow me to work in person with Pavel for shooting but also with Justin and teammates.

“Of course with the travel restrictions everything remains to be validated, but the idea is to do as much as possible remotely and still join the team from time to time.”

More to come?

This move will undoubtedly be beneficial for Jules Burnotte. Could more athletes follow his footsteps in the coming years?

“Interesting question! replied Bouchard. I would say that I can’t answer that at the moment because it’s really a specific project, unique to Jules, an athlete who’s already flirting with the top 30 in the IBU World Cup.

“It’s more the fact that Justin asked us to help and that Jules has an interest in being helped by the Pierre Harvey Center. That’s really what it is for now. Later yes, it opens the door to think about it, but how it could work, we don’t know. In (amateur) sports these days, it’s not easy, there isn’t a lot of money, so we have to move forward slowly on this issue.”

Moving forward, however slowly, is one of Louis Bouchard’s trademarks. Along with producing world elite athletes.