Mogul skiing: Perrine Laffont, a champion endowed with "extraordinary mental strength"

Here is now Perrine Laffont with a 4th Crystal Globe in her pocket, the one that crowns the best of the winter in the general classification of the World Cup, a few days after having been world champion.

At only 22 years old, his record is already incredible.

And yet, for the queen of moguls, everything could have ended in the spring of 2018.

After the Games, the doubts

At 19, Perrine Laffont returned from the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang with a gold medal in her luggage.

A happiness that quickly gives way to doubt and "many sleepless nights", says Dominique, her mother.

The desire is gone, the young woman procrastinates.

Finally, she finds the keys to leave, with her mental trainer, Cécilia.

“They set up a schedule that allowed them to rediscover different pleasures, that of training, of preparing their suitcase,” explains Dominique.

On the track, Ludovic Didier, the coach of the France team, lets his protégé make her own choices.

“So when I see my daughter today talking about fun, about the Beijing Olympics in 2022, I tell myself how far we've come!

mum points.

She realized that time flies very quickly and that you have to savor it.

"

"Pleasure skiing, without constraint"

Returning from Kazakhstan, the scene of the World Championships and the final World Cup event finally canceled this Sunday, Perrine will put the medals and her crystal globe on the shelves of her apartment in Annecy.

Where, regularly, her parents come to find her from Ariège.

It is thanks to them - to Jean-Jacques, her daddy, a mogul trainer, and Dominique, her mom, a judge in regional competitions - that Perrine became passionate about freestyle skiing as a child.

"Pleasure skiing, without constraint," insists Dominique.

As a child, Perrine Laffont had learned to play sports for fun.

DR  

In the Monts d'Olmes resort, in Ariège, there is no question of competitions, even less of a high level.

At 12, Perrine began to break through and joined the French mogul ski team at 14.

One night in January 2014, Dominique received a call from the coach of the France team.

“Perrine was on a World Cup event in Canada to see and she qualified for the Sochi Games.

Ludovic (Didier) asked me to prepare everything: the suitcase, the plane tickets and the visas.

The skier is 15 years old, and the first Olympic experience will be as magical as it is painful.

The fragility of the return from the Sochi Games in 2014

“No doubt because by finishing 5th in qualifying, she said to herself why not me?

The teenager, youngest of the French delegation, will finish 14th in the final.

“I saw a sad little girl come home,” recalls Dominique.

The eyes of the others were hard to bear.

When you are 15 years old, when you come back from the Olympics with the outfits of the France team, you attract a little jealousy.

Perrine should have beamed with happiness after Sochi, she had become fragile.

It is from this period that the first mental preparation sessions date, intended in particular to take a step back from events.

“When she was little, she was taught to play sports for fun, she was not given the taste for sacrifice and the self-sacrifice necessary to succeed at a high level.

Since then, the teenager "who did not like school" - she has however validated a technical marketing DUT and is currently pursuing a marketing license - has turned into a bulldozer.

“All things considered, my daughter reminds me of Martin Fourcade, notes Dominique.

She puts things down, moves forward with extraordinary mental strength.

Young already, she loved challenges.

"

A lawyer and a com advisor replaced her mom

For a long time, the mother took care of her daughter's career, before leaving the reins to Delphine Verheyden, lawyer for many sportsmen including Kylian Mbappé and… Martin Fourcade, for the sponsors part, and to Tanguy Blondel for the communication aspect.

“I accompanied her because I wanted her to flourish, I saw so many athletes physically or psychologically broken that I wanted to protect her,” says Dominique.

The cord was not easy to cut but Perrine wanted us to find our places as mum and dad ”.

Despite everything, Madame Laffont continues to follow her daughter to the competitions.

“I see her evolving with pride, I see her becoming a woman, but she remains my little Perrine, my little girl.

“The one who likes to find her Pyrenees mountains, visit her grandparents and share moments with her cousins.

“I wanted her to blossom, she became a beautiful person full of kindness and benevolence.

A great champion too.