Perrine, how do you feel after this season when you conquered the last great title that was missing from your record?
Perrine Laffont:
I am very happy with this great season, even if it ended a bit oddly with the cancellation of the last round of the World Cup.
But that did not change the final result and I am very satisfied with my results, with what I put in place during a season which remains very positive, despite the difficult context.
Now that you've won it all, how are you going to maintain the same motivation?
My motivation is not linked only to competition.
I never said to myself, for example, that once I had won everything, I would stop.
With the Olympic Games in Beijing next year and new Worlds in 2023, there are two great deadlines waiting for me.
I also know that I can still improve in skiing, and this great margin of improvement that remains to me motivates me a lot.
I like to evolve and it's not all about results.
Where do you see your room for improvement?
Even though I won all the titles, I did not reach the end of my physical and technical capacities.
Mentally also I can still progress.
In the field of jumping, I can still add technical difficulty.
It can bring me even more points.
And then I was discussing it recently with Ben Cavet (his male partner in the France team) telling him that this season, I never had the feeling of having achieved the perfect run.
Sometimes I'm happy with my performance on the skis, other times on the jumps, but I never managed to have the perfect combo.
This is one of my personal goals.
You and I will get along well
Thank you to all the hardworking people around me, thank you to my family, thank you to my friends, thank you to my partners and thank you to all of you for your support and encouragement
Another great season in the counters pic.twitter.com/GxEnBPb0Vp
- Perrine Laffont (@LaffontPerrine) March 15, 2021
In a way, do you feel, having won this world title on the individual, that you have closed a chapter of your career, that of beating others, and now you are opening a new one, more focused on yourself - even ?
(She thinks) Already, I do not have the most impressive track record in my discipline.
It is certain that now that I have won everything, I have less pressure for results.
The little girl that I was, who dreamed of mogul skiing and being a world and Olympic champion, she is now.
Today, where I agree with you on your question, is that I can focus more on the notion of making myself happy, of simply wanting to progress without looking too much at what others are doing.
And I can't wait to see where it can take me.
Do you think you have the same carnivorous mentality as a Martin Fourcade or a Teddy Riner, who never seem satisfied with titles?
I think yes.
When you've tasted victory, behind, it's hard to settle for a Top 5 in the World Cup.
The moment you know you can win every competition, every loss is more difficult to deal with.
So yes, I have this spirit of a great competitor who wants to win over and over again.
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Suddenly, your model would be the Canadian Mikaël Kingsbury, already six times world champion and winner of the last nine big crystal globes in mogul skiing…
Yes, Kingsbury or even Hannah Kearney (four big crystal globes at the beginning of the 2010s) are inevitably good models to follow.
Kearney has the World Cup record (43) for women and it would be amazing if we could do better one day.
However, I am still far from it (21 successes on his record) ...
Can breaking records be a source of motivation for you?
I don't want to put pressure on myself with this.
In recent years, I've already put a lot of pressure on myself between the Olympics in 2018 and the Worlds in 2019 and this year.
Now I really aspire to ski for fun and for myself.
As I said, today I think more in terms of progression on a personal level.
Breaking records is necessarily very flattering.
But I believe that my career is already good and that I should not put such huge goals in mind, because otherwise I will only think about that and forget the notion of pleasure, which is essential for me. in my well-being and my success.
"I tell myself that as long as I'm good at what I'm doing, I must continue"
You insist a lot on the notion of pleasure. Does this mean that you no longer have a dream to fulfill?
There is a bit of both, in fact.
The pleasure is fundamental because if it is not there, it is complicated to work hard in training every day, to hurt yourself.
After a while, it can be boring if you don't take pleasure in what you're doing.
However, I still have dreams, such as being a double Olympic champion.
After winning everything, some champions have had a hard time continuing to hurt themselves in training. Are you also worried that you no longer have that sense of sacrifice, in a way?
For once, no.
When I had my complicated 2019 season, when at one point, I really had my slap in training, I then managed to start again and find a good balance of life.
I think that having discovered this very hard side of training, which is also a pleasure, will help me a lot for the future.
Can we also imagine that today, you can continue your career for others, for what you represent in terms of role model for certain young girls, for your environmental commitments?
This is not the primary objective, but I still take it into account because I know very well that thanks to my results, I have a certain amount of media coverage.
And through this, I can better convey certain messages that are close to my heart, such as ecology or the place of women in sport.
I come from a small sport that was not very publicized and today, it starts to be better, so I also have to continue to have good results to benefit from this word in the media.
As I want to defend these causes, yes, I continue a little for that.
Exceptional Perrine Laffont!
The Frenchwoman is world champion!
# lequipeSKIpic.twitter.com / ZZsmiMcfwz
- the L'Équipe channel (@lachainelequipe) March 8, 2021
Are there times when you think about the end of your career?
I think about it, because a lot of people ask me the question, saying: "It's good, now you've won everything, you can stop".
Suddenly, it prompts me to think about it.
But I tell myself that as long as I'm good at what I'm doing, I must continue.
And the day when I no longer have the flame to get up and go and hurt myself in training, where competing has become a chore, then it will be time to stop.
But for now, I have the potato and I do not think about it.
Maybe it'll hit me when I don't expect it.
In any case, I will not push until a specific date.
I wouldn't go to 30 just to say I would go to that age.
Your discipline is very demanding physically, especially at the knees. Are you not afraid for the future?
Yes, necessarily a little.
I have been on the circuit for seven to eight years and physically, I already feel that I am not the same, I have suffered a lot of shocks and falls.
My body is handling well but maybe one day, physically, I will not be able to have the same level of performance.
But at 22, I still hope to have good years ahead of me (laughs).
And frankly, I don't have this idea of wanting to stop before to save my body or my knees when I'm 40 or 50.
There, I live in skiing my best years and I must take advantage of it.
At worst, I would have a prosthesis one day.
But that won't stop me.
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