• Kevin Rolland, the resilience of the champion
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Kevin Rolland will give everything to realize his dream of one day becoming an Olympic champion.
Bronze medalist in half-pipe skiing in Sochi in 2014, he then had a nightmare in Pyeongchang, with his body crippled with injuries due to various falls.
Nevertheless, he had not given up, qualifying for a final in which he could not defend his chances (11th).
On April 30, 2019, his passion even nearly took his life in a violent fall as he tried to break a world record with a jump over 11 meters high.
Fracture of the pelvis, various haemorrhages, the Plagnard could have stopped there.
But the love of the Olympic rings continued to irrigate his veins and, at 32, he overcame his pains to be present in Beijing.
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• Cizeron/Papadakis, to forget about Pyeongchang
Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron on December 18, 2021 in Cergy-Pontoise.
HERVIO JEAN-MARIE/KMSP via AFP
Four years ago, gold seemed promised to the dancing couple Gabriella Papadakis-Guillaume Cizeron.
And then a costume problem for the young woman turned everything upside down.
Second after the short program, they set a new world record in the free but that was not enough to overtake Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
A real heartbreak that they took the time to digest by first winning a 4th world crown in 2019, before gnawing on their skates during the pandemic.
To come back stronger in Beijing and win the only title that is still missing from their formidable record?
• Chloé Trespeuch, for a rematch
The misfortune of the ones makes the happiness... In Pyeongchang, falling at the end of the course during the snowboardcross final, Chloé Trespeuch had seen her title hopes fly away, leaving her young and unexpected compatriot Julia Pereira de Sousa Mabileau to win the silver.
A painful failure for the one who had won bronze in Sochi.
At 27, the Savoyard is showing magnificent consistency and arrives in Beijing on a series of three 2nd places in a row in the World Cup.
But it's gold she dreams of, not silver.
Read also
Chloé Trespeuch: “This season, I have a double revenge to take”
• Quentin Fillon Maillet, time to break free
Quentin Fillon Maillet on January 20, 2022 in Antholz-Anterselva (Italy).
MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP
For many years, Quentin Fillon Maillet learned to live in the shadow of the exploits of Martin Fourcade.
Efficient and regular, however, he lacked that little something to compete with his prestigious biathlon teammate.
And when he decided to retire after his Olympic quintuplet in Pyeongchang, Fillon Maillet encountered another obstacle in the person of Johannes Thingnes Boe.
The Norwegian seemed set to reign as long as Fourcade in biathlon, and the Frenchman to have to settle for 3rd place in the World Cup, which he won for three years, from 2019 to 2021. Until this season when , finally, at 29, the click seems to have occurred.
At the top of the general classification, winner five times, he only needs this Olympic title to impose himself in the eyes of the general public.
• Emilien Jacquelin, Fourcade's heir
If Fillon Maillet leads the dance in the general classification of the World Cup, it should not be forgotten that Émilien Jacquelin endorsed the yellow bib of leader before him, before flexing on the two stages preceding the Games.
A logical backlash after a summer and a preparation disrupted by a left wrist injury.
This does not prevent the 26-year-old from Grenoble from being a serious candidate for Olympic gold, especially in pursuit.
Read also
Biathlon: Emilien Jacquelin, in the middle of a golden age
• Tess Ledeux, head full of tricks
Tess Ledeux on November 21, 2020 in Neustift (Austria).
Patrick Steiner/Gepa/Panoramic
At just 16 years old, Tess Ledeux missed out on the Pyeongchang Olympics (15th in slopestyle).
“
I grew up, I matured, it was an essential step in building my career
”, sums up the double world champion (slopestyle in 2017 and big air in 2019), ambitious for Beijing.
One jump was enough for the world No. 1 in big air to impress the competition: four and a half turns (4 × 360° plus 180°, or 1,620°) in back landing to win the X Games in Aspen, Colorado, last January.
But the skier from La Plagne expects formidable competition in China.
• Alexis Pinturault, a golden meeting
Head of the gondola of French alpine skiing, Alexis Pinturault (30 years old) is evolving this winter in the shadow of his ambition. “
It's not terrible at all. Each time I arrive at a new race, I change my state of mind but the results are not any better and feed this hell. After a while, there are doubts, and doubt is the athlete's enemy.
he muttered to Schaldming in the midst of a lackluster, winless January.
The Courchevel skier, left behind in the World Cup (9th), will put all his hopes on the Olympics.
His obsession, gold (after the silver of the handset in 2018, the bronze of the Giant in 2014 and 2018).
A challenge for a skier who, tied up, runs after confidence and freedom, essential to risk taking.
Four events are on its program (Super-G, combined, Giant, slalom, not to mention the team event).
• Tessa Worley, overcoming the Olympic curse
Ambitious but inexperienced in 2010 in Vancouver (16th), injured and absent in 2014 in Sochi, Tessa Worley (32) had suffered in Pyeongchang in 2018 (7th): "
I was ready, expected, but this expectation slowed me down , I was a spectator of my race, while only the actors come out with a smile and the medals.
In Beijing, I hope to be an actress, to take the risks it takes to play big.
The double giant slalom world champion (2013, 2017), victorious this winter in the World Cup, in Lienz (her 15th success), wants to fully experience the Olympics and set an example, she who marched as a door - flag during the opening ceremony.
• Clément Noël, the virtuoso of the stakes
In 2018, Clément Noël landed in Pyeongchang escorted by a promising reputation and a gold medal at the world junior championships.
Unbound ski, committed, Clément Noël had risen to the height of expectations (4th in the Olympic slalom, 4th in the team event).
At 24, with 9 World Cup victories (the last in Val d'Isère, in December), the Vosgien, who has become one of the headliners of the Blues, is back at the Olympics.
“
In 2018, I did not come as a tourist but to discover.
I was not under pressure, not stressed.
It would be lying to say that today when I arrive at a big event I have the same carelessness as in 2018 when no one was expecting me.
.”
Scheduled on February 16, the Vosgien will carry with Alexis Pinturault, the blue hopes in slalom.
A discipline which had crowned Jean-Claude Killy (in 1968 in Grenoble) and Jean-Pierre Vidal (in 2002 in Salt Lake City).