Time to breathe.
At the end of the Super Slalom organized by Julien Lizeroux and Julien Régnier in his stronghold of La Plagne, Kevin Rolland took the time to look back on his season, which he went through with a beautiful and big smile on his face.
At 32, the half pipe specialist is calmly preparing to draw a line under his career as a high-level athlete with the feeling of more than accomplished duty, he who notably returned to play in the Olympic Games three years after an accident. which could have cost him his life.
Kevin, we left you on a 6th place at the Olympic Games in Beijing, with a big smile. Do you still have it after racing down the 4 kilometers of the Super Slalom?
Kevin Rolland:
I lost my smile during the race, but I quickly found it afterwards because there is a great atmosphere, we meet up with friends.
We are all on the same wavelength during a competition that is not really one.
Has this whole season been just fun for you?
It was fun, but also challenging, especially at the start of the season when I had to qualify for the Olympics.
I absolutely wanted to be competitive because I had always said to myself that if I had the chance to play in the Beijing Games, it was not simply to take part in them but to show that I was still there, performing well.
In Beijing, we felt you were really happy to be there. This sporting challenge obviously didn't create any negative pressure, as it can…
Yes, I felt good pressure there, not negative.
I was really into positivity (laughs).
I projected myself three years back, on my hospital bed, and I could not be disappointed to be in Beijing to compete in these Games.
It was just impossible to feel bad having overcome all that.
It helped me to arrive happy.
What is your assessment of your experience as an Olympic flag bearer?
It will go down as a defining experience in my career, which was timely given that it was my last Games.
I remember that at my first (in 2014), I was still a young kid who arrived with teeth scratching the floor and the ambition to be an Olympic champion.
I brought home a bronze medal, and I was very focused on my performance.
Four years ago, I arrived in Pyeongchang injured, and it didn't go very well.
That's why I wanted to arrive in Beijing fit and relaxed to enjoy the event.
And the fact of being a standard bearer allowed me to go and encourage my friends.
I stayed there for fifteen days and the first ten, I was almost on vacation, to share with everyone, to
interested in certain disciplines that I knew less well.
And a few days before my start, I again focused on my performance.
Without forgetting all that I had experienced before.
If we summed up each of your Games in one word, could we say performance for 2014, suffering for 2018 and happiness this year?
Yes that's it.
In 2018, we could say fighter too.
I had approached them by telling myself very simply that it could make or break, and unfortunately it had broken.
What I am most proud of is having been able to overcome this ordeal.
Kevin Rolland
Are you at peace with yourself when closing such a big chapter in your life?
Yes, completely.
Obviously, I can feel some frustration at only finishing 6th.
Technically, I could have tried to finish on the podium by taking the risk of performing more difficult tricks.
But I don't focus on that.
I only think about where I was three years ago.
This accident could have put an end to everything for me, but there I was, 6th in the final of the Games, standard bearer… I couldn't have imagined this when I was unable to get up on my own.
You can always want more, but I refuse to let this little frustration take precedence over the joy and pride of having managed to be there, for my third Games.
Read alsoJO 2022: Kevin Rolland: “This morning, I started dreaming”
Does your greatest pride today lie in your prize list or in the image that you sent back to people when you returned after such an accident?
I am happy with my whole career.
I won a lot of things, the X Games, the World Championships… It was very hard to achieve that.
But the accident that happened to me will remain as the hardest fight of my life, especially at a crucial moment and the birth of my child.
What I am most proud of is having been able to overcome this ordeal.
Mentally and physically it was complicated and I managed both.
This story, I like to tell it and I'm happy to have been able to put it in pictures with the documentary Resilience.
Beyond sport, at each preview I go to, I meet people who are touched, who recognize themselves in my journey.
An accident of life, it happens to so many people.
And if at my modest height,
I can give some keys on how I managed to overcome this, to get out of it.
And if these keys can help or inspire some, I would be most happy.
What's next for you will now involve the development of your artistic projects…
Yes, I have video projects that are already very concrete for this year and the next.
As far as the competition is concerned, everything is not yet clear, except that I still feel in good shape and that I like to do the half-pipe.
Except that I don't like to finish 10th.
So we'll see...
