Our special correspondent in Courchevel
Alexis, two races, two medals, gold in combined and bronze this Thursday in super-G. Did you dream of such a scenario before arriving here?
Alexis Pinturault:
I could dream of it, of course, but from there to doing it in reality, it was a whole different story.
It's just amazing.
I wanted to come here in top form to fight for the podium and a medal would already have been something great.
So two in two races, plus one in gold, it's a fabulous feeling.
How does this bronze medal taste to you?
It's a little more unexpected for me, in a discipline where I haven't scored many podiums in my career.
I knew I was capable of performing there, but there is a big difference between performing well to finish 5th or 6th and doing it to get on the podium.
So it's very rewarding to get there.
Especially since this super G was very fast.
There weren't a lot of turns in the end, except for those imposed by the track.
So in terms of feeling, it was hard to know if I was skiing well.
However, I took pleasure, especially in the adrenaline that I could feel, in the commitment that I was able to put in, in the skiing that I was able to produce.
After your passage, when you see that you are in front of Marco Odermatt, did you think you could win?
When I cross the line and I see that Marco is behind me, I just tell myself that the medal becomes possible.
Afterwards, I wanted to wait for Kilde, who had been the other big favorite in the discipline since the start of the season.
But I said to myself that if I already overtook one, the probability of winning a medal greatly increased.
There, Kilde passes me in front of me, then Crawford does it too and there, I was more tense.
A long wait began and it was no longer just up to me.
And then between finishing 3rd and 4th, it makes a huge difference, especially at the Worlds.
We imagine that after such a performance, you must have even more desire to go to the speed events...
In any case, that reinforces me further in this perspective.
I'm not talking about choices yet because nothing has been decided.
What is certain is that I have a lot of fun in super-G, and also in downhill, except that I don't do it.
But it's not impossible that at the end of my career, I have the motivation to go more downhill.
Two years ago, you had already won bronze in the super G of the Worlds in Cortina d'Ampezzo. How is this one different?
Already, just because I was a bronze medalist two years ago didn't mean I thought it was going to happen again.
In fact, I was hoping to do better (laughs).
No just kidding.
I know how hard sport is.
We saw it today with James Crawford.
We, as specialists in the field, are not surprised to see it there.
But from the outside, I think he surprised a lot of people.
In fact, he's just a young athlete, with lots of potential but who still has a lot to learn, experience to accumulate.
But on this super G, he skied to his full potential and we saw what it could do.
That's skiing, and that's sport, there are never certainties.
How do you explain this extra soul that animates you? Is it only linked to being at home, in your resort? Or is there something else?
I really think it's being at home.
I've been talking about these Worlds in Courchevel for two years and personally, it's clearly been in my head for a year, it animates me and I have only one desire, c is to perform there.
I wanted to fully live these World Championships and to live them, you also have to give in.
I've managed so far to fit all that together and that's what gave me this extra soul.
Is it really an advantage for you to evolve on this track of the Eclipse?
There are very few people who believe me when I say that, but nevertheless it is a reality: I have never trained on this track.
The only time I competed there was last year for the World Cup finals.
So I leave on an equal footing with all the athletes who take the start.
Although it's very hard to believe and I can understand it (laughs).
From now on, you're not going to stop there…
(He cuts) Everything in its time (smile).
There, I'm already going to rest because even if today I was in pretty good shape, I was also very tired yesterday.
Fortunately, I slept very well last night.
But I know how much on this type of event each test costs in energy, in nerve impulses.
The protocols, the ceremony, it costs.
So there I'm going to take advantage of these four days that separate me from the parallel event to recharge my batteries before the second block.
