Maya Cloetens

Maya Cloetens

Cloetens in 2024

Personal information

Born

8 January 2002 (age 22)
Grenoble, France

Professional information

Sport

Biathlon

IBU Cup debut

2022

World Cup debut

2023

World Championships

Teams

2 (2023, 2024)

World Cup

Seasons

2 (2022/23-)

European/IBU Cup

Seasons

2 (2022/23-)

Medal record

Women's biathlon

Representing France
Youth World Championships
	2021 Obertilliach	3 × 6 km relay

Maya Cloetens (born 8 January 2002) is a Belgian biathlete. She has competed in the Biathlon World Cup since 2023.^[1]

Career

Maya Cloeten's first international races took place at the 2019 Olympic Youth Festival in Sarajevo, where she won the silver medal with the mixed relay team. The following year, she participated in the Biathlon Junior World Championships 2020 in Lenzerheide, achieving her best result as fifth in the sprint and with the relay team. In the subsequent year, she competed in the Youth World Championships again, repeating her sprint performance from 2020, but the relay team, including Cloetens, significantly improved, securing victory with Fany Bertrand and Jeanne Richard. After a year without international tournament participation, she won the French U-23 individual championship in March 2022.^[2]

Shortly after winning the national title, the French association expelled Cloetens from the team due to a "lack of perspective," denying her support. As she also holds Belgian citizenship due to family ties, she decided to represent Belgium in the future. Unlike naturalization, she did not face a multi-year suspension.^[3] Her initial competitions for the new nation occurred at the French Summer Championships on roller skis in September. With the exception of Lotte Lie, there were no other female athletes in the Belgian national team, leading Cloetens to participate immediately in the IBU Cup in the winter of 2022/23, achieving three top-30 results. In the Junior Cup in December, she dominated with four podium finishes, although she did not win any races, initially leading the rankings.

In January 2023, Cloetens made her World Cup debut at Pokljuka, finishing 43rd and 42nd in the sprint and pursuit, respectively, coming close to earning World Cup points. Despite a severe fall by Thierry Langer in the mixed relay, she, along with Lotte Lie and Florent Claude, secured tenth place. The Belgian athlete also participated in the World Championships in her debut year, finishing 38th and 40th in the sprint and pursuit. However, as of 2023, World Championship results no longer contribute to World Cup rankings, and she did not receive points for her performance. The Junior World Championships were disappointing, but at the end of the season, Cloetens earned her first World Cup points by finishing 36th in the sprint race in Oslo.

Personal life

Cloetens originates from Grenoble and was born in France, initially representing the French Ski Federation. As her father is from Flanders, she holds dual French-Belgian citizenship since birth. Currently, she is pursuing studies in mathematics and physics in her hometown of Grenoble. Cloetens is a left-handed shooter.