Our special correspondent in Beijing
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Kevin, we felt you were particularly moved after this qualification for the ski half-pipe final…
Kevin Rolland:
I started to get a little emotional.
Being in the final may seem normal but it is not necessarily so for me.
Two and a half years ago, I didn't think I could be in the final here.
I was far from that.
I try to remember, to go back to remember where I was two years ago and there, to be in the final of the Olympic Games, it's incredible.
I am too happy.
I am proud to have managed to withstand this pressure.
Even if I'm not in the top, I'm in the final and anything can happen there.
Can you tell us about your two runs and how you handled them?
I had tough training so I was happy to have landed my first run.
Even though I knew I had made a mistake, it gave me confidence for the second.
It was a little hard at the start of this one because inevitably, even if it shouldn't be done, we remain glued to our phones to see the ranking.
I saw suddenly that I was only 13th.
However, it is very different to take the start while still being qualified or no longer being so.
I had no choice, you have to pull yourself together in a fraction of a second and I'm glad I managed to do it.
I knew I had the ability to go to the final, I just had to be able to do what I know how to do.
I really focused on technique.
I
I still made a small mistake, the same one a little less marked than in the first run.
It's a good sign, it means that there are still plenty of things to improve for the final.
In what state of mind will you approach this final on Saturday?
The bet is successful but I still have it under my feet.
There is margin.
I've done much better runs than this before.
Now I broke my coccyx at the start of the season, it was very hard, I couldn't ski as much as I would have liked.
In this final, I would have nothing to lose, everything to prove.
I want to play, have fun and then we'll see.
The pressure is no longer there.
The only thing I have left is from a technical point of view, to pull off some nice big tricks.
But I no longer have the pressure of the result.
I'm just going to think about what I could do to get the Americans.
Did you doubt you could do it?
I asked myself questions, I told myself that if I wasn't in the final, it would be a real shame.
If I did all that, it was not to stay stopped at the door of this final.
I really wanted to do it and now it's only happiness.
Were you beginning to find the time long since your arrival here, even before the opening ceremony 15 days ago?
I found the time very long.
However, I was very excited when I arrived because I was a flag bearer, there was the opening ceremony, I wanted to encourage everyone, it's great, I attended my cousin's medal , Tess, I've seen other hardships.
They were very good times but after a while I started to find the time long, mainly because I wasn't skiing.
I did my little physical preparation every day but hey… It's been better for three days now because I can finally touch the snow.