Each of his performances makes him enter further into the history of alpine skiing.
But Johan Clarey owes his recent successes in the annals of his sport as much to his sliding as to his date of birth.
Already the oldest medalist in the history of the 2019 World Championships, the Frenchman became the first 40-year-old to climb on a World Cup podium in January with his second place on the Kitzbühel descent.
At the Cortina d'Ampezzo Worlds, where he lined up downhill this Sunday after having made a mistake on the super-G on Thursday, “Yo” is naturally the oldest of the French delegation.
“I am proud to be still here, blows the person concerned.
After Kitzbühel, I got a lot of congratulatory messages for my performance.
We all have a different story.
Mine is written more at 40 than at 20. ”No premeditation in this late blooming.
Clarey is one of those skiers plagued by injury.
“At the age when many are progressing, I was taking care of myself,” says the man whose cruciate ligaments have betrayed him three times.
Between 2004 and 2006, I had almost two white seasons.
In 2009, while I was preparing for the Worlds in Val-d'Isère, I set off in the split at 120 an hour and blew my knees.
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"90% of the time, we have bad times in skiing"
His hospital stays have never put him off his sport.
“He is always so enthusiastic, always thoroughly in his profession, describes his trainer and ex-partner with the Blues, Yannick Bertrand.
So, with age, it creaks.
But it's still moving forward (laughs.) ”
In the French team, all praise the physical preparation sessions that the descender is capable of inflicting on himself in the summer.
The strong guy (1.91 m, 98 kg) also has an impressive “body”.
“He is still ahead of the young people of the group in certain evaluations, greet Xavier Fournier, head of the French speed group.
He works a lot, you have to see what he sends to stay level.
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On his Instagram account, the one who is in town the companion of Alexis Pinturault's sister-in-law, displays his motto in English: “Pain is temporary, abandonment is eternal”.
“It represents my relationship to this sport,” explains Johan Clarey.
90% of the time, we have bad times in skiing.
But all this does not last.
So we push the machine.
I take some pleasure in pain.
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"Finish on my own two legs, with a smile"
At 40, Johan Clarey does not know when he will leave the circuit.
“He's been telling us he's going to stop for a while, but he's always pushing it back, smiles his partner at the Blues Adrien Théaux.
In fact, he is driven by his passion.
In this environment, some ski, but don't like it in quotes.
Him, he adores.
"
"I will continue as long as I am efficient," slice the person concerned.
He admits to being less go-getter than before, he who is the fastest skier in history since his 161.9 km / h in Wengen in 2013. “A big box, and it's the end of my career”, he admits.
So, “Yo” Clarey manages himself, waits for the right race, the one that will finally give him the victory that he has never seen over the years.
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"What can you wish for me?"
That I finally win a race, that I one day have this little thing of success that puts me at the top, he says.
Otherwise, just end up on my own two legs.
And with a smile on his face.
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