Perrine, how do you feel about attacking this new season?
Perrine Laffont:
I feel very good.
I did a great course in Argentina, near Ushuaïa, and it did me good to find snow again because I hadn't been able to ski much this summer.
Clearly, I was a bit in the dark before this course, both physically and acrobatically.
With my staff, we had decided to put things in place but without knowing what it would look like on the skis.
Ushuaïa answered quite a few of my questions, which reassured me.
Soon, you will also be able to train in Saudi Arabia (reference to the awarding of the Asian Winter Games in 2029 to the Middle Eastern country)…
(Ironic) It's really great!
Seriously, this pisses me off.
As athletes, we try to do things, on our scale, to remedy this global warming.
I know that with our many plane trips, we cannot set ourselves up as examples, but there is still a real desire among many of us to work on the ecological level.
And then there you go, the international authorities are laying out a competition like that, right in the middle of Saudi Arabia, which is going to cost billions of euros to build a ski resort from scratch where naturally there is no snow.
It's so stupid...
Do you feel that the voice of athletes on such matters is heard?
Clearly not.
On the attribution of these Asian Games to Saudi Arabia, no one asked our opinion.
I think if you ask the vast majority of the France national team, no one is going to be happy or approve of that.
Afterwards, I am not directly concerned since I am not Asian but even without taking this into consideration, I do not have the feeling that we, athletes, have our say on this type of decision.
We can have an impact by speaking out in the media, but often the decision has already been made and our voice can no longer change it.
It's all very political.
Are you in a hurry to be in 2026 for the Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, which will ultimately be your first on a real ski ground (she experienced those of Sochi, Pyeongchang and Beijing)?
It is certain that these should be great Games and that I can't wait to experience them, especially after the last ones in confinement mode in Beijing.
There, there will be a real spirit of winter sports, with the real enchantment of what the mountain world is all about.
I think it will be much more pleasant to live.
Have you completely closed the Beijing page and this 4th place?
No, because it's part of my story and it should also allow me to build myself as an athlete, as a woman too.
It's a painful experience that I have to use to move forward and evolve.
What did you do this summer to try to digest that?
In the spring, I completely unplugged to return to a normal life.
I simply took time for myself, to enjoy life and do what I wanted to do.
And then afterwards, when I took over, the fact of having changed staff immediately gave me a new challenge, with a different preparation.
This added a little spice to this return to the slopes because everything was new and I discovered new working methods at each course.
What is the watchword for this new season? Trying to reinvent yourself?
Yes, there is a bit of that.
With Beijing, a four-year Olympic cycle ended and a new one begins.
I am not the same Perrine as last year because I have matured, grown from everything I experienced last season.
Technically, what do you intend to change?
As before each season, my goal is to progress technically, on the ski, on the jumps.
The change of staff leads to a change of functioning, of discourse.
Everything is new.
What will your goals be?
There will be a big focus on the World Championships in Georgia.
Afterwards, the goal will be to perform well in each World Cup event and to continue to have fun because without that, I don't see the point of continuing.
On this season, I want to continue to like the competition and to train every day.
It may not seem like much, but sometimes it's not that simple.