ANTERSELVA, ITALY, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Quentin Fillon Maillet became France's most decorated Winter Olympian when he helped his nation capture the biathlon men's relay title for the first time with a superb third leg on Tuesday.
The 33-year-old was the epitome of calm as he overcame two misses on the range to set up anchorman Eric Perrot for a triumphant final leg for France, and though Fillon Maillet made individual history, he was keen to share the glory.
"I don't think too much, not so much right now because I am thinking about the collective emotion, the collective success, not especially on my success," Fillon Maillet told Reuters, smiling broadly as his teammates passed him by.
With eight Olympic medals - five golds and three silvers - the sharpshooter joined fencers Philippe Cattiau and Roger Ducret, who both picked up eight medals at Summer Games during the 1920s and 1930s, as the nation's most successful Olympians.
With Friday's mass start to go, Fillon Maillet could eclipsethem with a ninth medal, but he was not focusing on that milestone.
"I don't think about the record, I think about the next chance and the next race. You have a lot of pressure, not a lot of emotion, and I'm happy to be here, and that's the good, good feeling, it's a good vibe to have success here," he said.
"I have no more words - do you know, I was never thinking a small kid (like me) can expect eight medals in the Olympics, it's totally crazy."
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
