French cross-country skier Jules Chappaz was left in tears after a rough bout of gastroenteritis destroyed his 2026 Winter Olympic dream. A contender for medals in the classic sprint, Chappaz was eliminated early after coming third in the event’s first quarter-final on Tuesday. Already ill before arriving in  Italy for the games, the Frenchman’s sickness, which included gas and left him feeling “terrible”, ensured that he was unable to perform on the most important day of his career.

Gastroenteritis, a stomach-based flu, has reportedly been circulating within the French team in recent weeks and Chappaz, 26, took part in a tearful interview after his ambitions at the Milan-Cortina Olympics went up in smoke. “I wasn’t feeling well at all, I had a stomach ache,” he told France 2.

“I felt a bit nauseous and I had gas since the end of qualifying. My body is slowly recovering, and it was perhaps a little too soon. Four years of work down the drain because of gastroenteritis.

“From the start, I felt nauseous. Since the end of qualifying, I haven’t been feeling well. I don’t have many symptoms anymore, but as soon as I push myself, I feel terrible.”

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Chappaz had hoped to at least reach the final of the classic sprint. Through floods of tears, he said: “I wanted to believe I could do it, otherwise I wouldn’t have come. I was here to win a medal, but unfortunately, things haven’t gone very well these last two weeks.

“I did what I could with what I had. My body isn’t exactly inclined to give its all right now. These are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, everyone was there for me.”

Chappaz acknowledged that he was possibly in ‘the toughest group’ which included the event’s clear favorite Johannes Klaebo. Yet the athlete wasn’t in the business of making excuses, despite the rough hand he was dealt.

“You have to be able to beat everyone if you want to win a medal. I was aware of that,” he said. “It’s the Olympics, I really wanted to run! Qualifying [as the third fastest time] gave me high hopes. Maybe I didn’t have enough energy to get through the rounds. It’s a shame because I wasn’t far off even though I wasn’t feeling great. That’s life.”

The event was something of a bloodbath for many French contenders. Lucas Chanavat, Richard Jouve and Theo Schely were also eliminated in the quarter-finals, as were the two leading French women, Melissa Gal and Julie Pierrel.

“My regret is my form,” Chappaz reflected after his disappointment. “I believed in myself until the very end and gave it my all, but it wasn’t enough.”