Julia Simon: Biathlete Sentenced – Fine & Suspended Prison Term

Four-time world champion biathlete Julia Simon of 2025 stated that she “entirely accepts” the charges against her in her defense on Friday morning in front of the Albertville Criminal Court of First Instance. On the afternoon of the same day, the court found the athlete guilty of theft and bank card fraud and gave him a 3-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 15,000 euros.

Within the scope of the investigation, it was determined that Simon had repeatedly used the bank cards of his French National Team teammate Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and the team physiotherapist without permission since 2021, made purchases of up to 2,400 euros during their stay together in training camps, and also stole small amounts of cash ranging from 20 to 50 euros.

Although Julia Simon confessed to her crimes, she had difficulty explaining the reasoning for her actions. Simon first bought a VPN subscription for around 100 euros, then used the bank card of a member of the French National Team’s medical team to purchase GoPro cameras and Shein. In his admissions on Friday morning, he described his actions as “trivial and meaningless.” The world champion French athlete denied any financial justification, saying “I didn’t have a financial motivation; I didn’t need it” and expressed his regret by saying “I’m sorry for all this, I apologize to the victims.”

Simon, who confessed after denying the accusations for a long time, stated that he could not explain the reason behind his behavior before the court: “I have been working with my psychologist for two or three years to understand this, but everything is still very complicated,” he said. The athlete, who reached the top of his sport by winning the World Cup general classification in 2023, also shared the psychological process he experienced with the following words: “I buried my head in the sand, I wanted to focus on sports. I was scared and tried to protect myself.”