Just four days after a heavy fall in slopestyle, Tess Ledeux got up perfectly on Saturday in the big air, winning her third freestyle skiing world title at the age of 21 on the slopes of Bakuriani, Georgia.
At the end of a season that started with difficulty, with injuries and a concussion, the emotion and the relief were visible on the face of the Frenchwoman after her third jump on Saturday afternoon, a successful double switch, synonymous gold medal, when she had fallen heavily on this trick in slopestyle four days ago.
“
It's a dream come true.
I had this bad fall in slopestyle, I'm so happy, I can't believe it
,” explained the Frenchwoman just after this new world title.
Tuesday, she had tried it on her first pass, but she had hit with the top of her skis on the reception of her third jump, hitting the track with her head.
She had only taken 12th and last place in the slopestyle event, where she was also among the favorites for the podium and gold.
“
The pressure was so strong.
I'm so happy to land this figure, it's the first time for me in competition.
It's just incredible
, ”she still appreciated after her final.
With 186.75 points, Ledeux beat the Norwegian Sandra Eie (175.00 pts) and the Canadian Megan Oldham (174.00 pts), who had dominated her on the big air of the X-Games in Aspen (Colorado). five weeks ago.
2017 world champion in slopestyle and 2019 in big air, Tess Ledeux was one of the favorites for the world title on Saturday, in the absence of the Olympic champion and star of freestyle skiing, the Chinese Eileen Gu, injured at the end of January at the X -Games.
In the absence of Eileen Gu
Leader of the French freestyle skiing team with Perrine Laffont on the bumps, Ledeux perfectly landed his first jump on Saturday noon, a 1620 (four and a half turns) by catching his skis with his hands, to take control with 94, 25 dots.
After missing the landing of her second jump in difficult weather conditions, she tried the same figure, a "
switch double
", on her third pass, this time landing successfully, which earned her a score of 92. .50 points.
She thus relegated the competition to more than ten points of her total.
In the absence of Eileen Gu and the world slopestyle champion, the Swiss Mathilde Gremaud, who gave up big air on Saturday, this world gold medal comes to put some balm in the heart of the skier from La Plagne.
As a nod to history, she won this world title the day her cousin, French halfpipe ski star Kevin Rolland was 33 years old in his last race - a seventh place at the 2023 Worlds.
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