French biathlon star Julia Simon won gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics following his six-month ban for alleged credit card fraud.
“I think we will all be relieved if he can leave his wallet at home,” the analyst said Matt Iseman he joked on Sunday, February 8, after Simon, 29, entered the golden zone to celebrate his victory. “He won’t buy anything.”
Last year, Simon – who did not immediately respond to Iseman’s joke – was accused of repeatedly using his colleagues’ bank cards. Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and an anonymous staff member of Team France to buy more than 2,000 euros.
“I can’t explain it,” said Simon during his trial in October 2025, apologizing for his actions. “I don’t remember doing it. I can’t make sense of it.”
At the time, Simon insisted that he had entered medicine to “understand all of this, to grow and evolve.”
“There is no financial gain from my actions,” he said in his testimony. “Today I move forward day by day because being in front of you will have consequences in my work. It’s funny and funny because I didn’t need it.”
Simon was found guilty of theft and credit card fraud and was sentenced to a three-month suspended sentence and fined $34,600. The professional athlete was also banned from sports for six months, which did not affect his participation in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“It’s a new beginning for me,” said Simon on Tuesday, February 3, in a YouTube interview with Biathlonworld. “This year for the Olympics, I will put all my energy into training but after that I will do something [woodworking] things in my house, like a table. It will be a good project to think about all the little details and think about something other than racing.”
Julia Simon of Team France celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win Gold in the Mixed Relay 4 x 6km.
Michael Steele / Getty ImagesSimon also noted that reaching the Olympics has been his dream since “a long time ago.”
“When you have a big goal like the Olympics, it’s easy to do more and more, and sometimes it can be difficult to stay focused on myself,” he continued. “My goal for the Olympics, I think it’s simple. All athletes want a medal. That’s the only one missing, so I want an Olympic gold medal. It will be the first time I come to the Olympics with a big goal.”
Simon added, “I think I can handle this pressure [and] I like this pressure, too. … There’s a lot of ups and downs, though [I’ve learned to] don’t give up and trust yourself.”
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Simon reiterated that for him “life is amazing [her] dream” as he wishes for an “unbelievable” result of the Olympics.
Simon made his Olympic debut in 2022, where he won a silver medal in the Biathlon Mixed Relay.
“I tried to focus on the race and think about my biathlon and the next race and not the total,” he told Biathlon World earlier about his thoughts on the 2023 race. “The most important thing was to try my best in the field of shooting and to focus more. I am very satisfied with my shooting accuracy that has greatly improved.”
