Marie-Laure Brunet

Marie-Laure Brunet was born on 20 November 1988 in Lannemezan, Hautes-Pyrénées, France. She is a retired biathlete. Her first year in biathlon was 2005 and made her World Cup debut on 29 November 2007. Brunet participated as a member of the French national team at her first World Championships in 2008 in Östersund. There she made her first podium and took a bronze medal with the relay. In the other disciplines placed 30th in the sprint and 26th in the pursuit and 16th in the overall. One year later, at the 2009 World Championships in Pyeongchang, Brunet won her second bronze medal, again with the relay team. She finished 15th in the Individual, 52nd in the sprint, 7th in the pursuit and 8th in the mass start. The Olympics in 2010 in Vancouver were her first. However, nothing stood on her way as Brunet won 2 medals - one silver in the relay and one bronze in the pursuit. Results show her tremendous progress among her rivals as the 2009-2010 season, she ended up at number 9 in the overall. The 2010-2011 season brought Brunet with a 2nd place in the mass start in Antholz-Anterselva, 3rd place in the Individual in Pokljuka and twice a 4th place in the pursuit in Hochfilzen and the mass start in Oberhof. And at the 2011 World Championships in Khanty-Mansyisk, Brunet won a silver medal in the relay event. She placed 9th in the mass start and 44th in the sprint. During the 2011-2012 season Brunet made another series of great achievements as she won 3 silver medals in the Individual, mass start and the relay at the World Championships in Ruhpolding. Also as the season went, came 3rd in the pursuit and 4th in the sprint in Nove Mesto. She finished 7th in the overall. During the 2013-2014 season it all began with a podium from the first World Cup tour in Östersund - a 3rd place in the Individual. Later on at the World Championships in Nove Mesto, positioned 19th in the Individual, 26th in the sprint, 11th in the pursuit, 28th in the mass start and 6th in the relay. Those were the first Championships without a medal for Marie-Laure Brunet. The following Olympics held in Sochi in 2014 were her last. She participated in only 2 events - in the Individual where placed 17th and the sprint - 56th. Brunet took part in the relay event but as she was on the run of her first lap, she felt ill and collapsed. The paramedics took her immediately off the race track and hospitalized her. Doctors said Brunet suffered from exhaustion and that led to her decision to end her career after the Olympics.