The French Perrine Laffont fell on Friday in the final of the Mogul Skiing World Cup stage at Alpe d'Huez, where she was keen to shine at home against increasingly tough competition at the approaching the Games.
The 2018 Olympic champion remained stretched for long minutes on the snow in the finish area, her ungloved hand in that of her father, who introduced her to the discipline in Ariège when she barely knew how to walk .
Touched in her pride and in her flesh, the 23-year-old got up and dried her tears before getting back on the skis. Something to reassure about her physical condition a month and a half away from the Beijing Olympics, where she will be one of the best chances for French medals. "
She has pain in the ribs and in morale,
" quickly said the coach of the French mogul ski team Ludovic Didier, specifying that his protege was going to take exams in the afternoon.
“
She rarely falls.
It had to be today, but that's how it is.
We cannot blame him for committing and wanting to achieve his goals.
It's part of sport,
”he said.
“This fall is all the more cruel as Laffont, finally ranked 6th, was happy to evolve for once in front of the French public, deprived for four years of a World Cup stage.
Mixed start to the season
"When you see your athlete on the ground who does not get up, whether in France or abroad, it's the same,"
Didier said again.
“We are here to play sports, not to have fun. This is what worries me the most today. ”This quack also occurs at a mixed start to the season, during which the Ariégeoise appears less domineering than usual, notably failing for the first time since 2018 at climb onto a World Cup podium (4th) during the inaugural stage in Finland.
She had caught up in Sweden last week, with a second place in the individual event, the one contested in the Olympics, and a victory in parallel.
At Alpe d'Huez on Friday, Laffont climbed to the final with the second score behind the Australian Jakara Anthony, who largely won ahead of the Japanese Anri Kawamura, her main rivals in the quest for a second coronation Olympic.
The men's individual event was won by Japan's Ikuma Horishima.
The Canadian Mikael Kingsbury, who has dominated the discipline for years, finished third in a final in which the best Frenchman, Benjamin Cavet, was eliminated in qualifying.
He will have a second chance on Saturday with the parallel event.
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