“I don’t think I’m one of the favourites. I just tell myself that I have a blank page to write. » Tess Ledeux brushes off the question in a soft, calm voice. At the Winter Olympics (OG) in Beijing, the skier from La Plagne (Savoie) nevertheless appears as a serious candidate for the coronation in big air and slopestyle. The qualifications for the first event, which made its appearance on the Olympic program and consisted of jumping off a springboard to perform an acrobatic figure, took place on February 7; those of the second, during which the skiers descend six modules – bumps, ramps and springboards – by performing, again, artistic figures, are held on February 13.
Big air world champion in 2019, winner from the big globe in the Park & Pipe general classification and from the small globe in slopestyle in 2021, Tess Ledeux has been collecting podiums since the resumption of the 2021-2022 season. A few days before flying to China, during the Winter X Games in Aspen (Colorado, United States), the last competition before the high mass of snow and ice sports, she offered herself a double gold over both disciplines, becoming the first woman to complete a double cork 1,620 – a four and a half lap jump.
“I think I have the capabilities to make it go well [en Chine]. But I really assume that anything can be done, good or bad.she explains. Everything that happened before – favorite status, medals… –, it never existed. On the day of the competition, we start from scratch. »
Tess Ledeux may only be 20, but she speaks from experience. In 2018, in Pyeongchang (South Korea), the one who was perceived as the rising star of freestyle skiing was the youngest athlete in the French Olympic delegation. Having become world slopestyle champion a year earlier, she was already eagerly awaited. It was a cold shower: a last failed landing during his second pass and the 15and qualifying place, insufficient to reach the final. After this disappointment, she will no longer put on skis for several months.
“It’s a balance that had to be found”
” The Pyeonchang Games had a bitter taste. But I think it was a breakthrough for me. I had to go through it and it allowed me to build myself properly »analyzes the person concerned. “I did a lot of work on myselfcontinues the young woman. I try, in any case, to arrive as calmly as possible. Of course I’m stressed, of course there’s anxiety… But I try to channel it, to make sure that it pushes me and that it’s only positive. »
Tess Ledeux is convinced of this: her early emergence on the world freestyle scene is today an asset. Notably because it has not always been easy to manage. Practicing a discipline that forces her to travel, the teenager often found herself far from her relatives, sometimes for long periods, within a collective France of which she is one of the few women.
“To succeed in my sport and be fulfilled, you have to take advantage of every moment: family, friends, my life as a young person, my life as a student,” says Tess Ledeux.
“What has been difficult is that as you evolve as a woman you ask yourself thirty-six billion questions. I was with a group of 25-30 year old guys. Inevitably, they find it difficult to put themselves in your place and you, you dare not indulgeshe says. In fact, I had to learn to develop myself and understand certain things on my own. That must certainly be my strength, because I managed to find solutions in those moments. I had no choice. »
La Plagnarde also owes her maturity to the hardships that have already marked her existence, including the loss of her father, at the start of 2021, to whom she paid tribute after her victories at the Winter X Games 2022. “When I was 15-16 years old, only skiing mattered in my life, I ignored everything. I grew up and I realize that, to succeed in my sport and be fulfilled, you have to take advantage of every moment: family, friends, my life as a young person, my life as a student… a balance that had to be found and which took a long time to establish”argues Tess Ledeux.
Ready for big deadlines
Today, the skier feels ready to face big deadlines, repeating to herself that the essential thing is to do what she loves. “Success in competition is a plus, but it shouldn’t determine whether I’m happy or not. I think that’s what made the big difference.”says the young woman.
Obviously, she concedes, at the dawn of the most beautiful of competitions, the desire to add an Olympic medal to her incredible record is very present. Faced with what is at stake, she reassures herself by telling herself that she has succeeded in sticking to the set plan: to be consistent and competitive in both slopestyle and big air.
“I wanted to arrive in Beijing having put all the chances on my side. For the moment, this is the case », slips the Plagnarde. Leading the Big Air World Cup and fourth in the Slopestyle World Cup, she is in third position in the Park & Pipe general classificationbehind her two main rivals for the Olympic title, the Chinese Eileen Gu and the Estonian Kelly Sildaru.
Still not enough to make her change her line. “With the pressure, you don’t know how the favorites react. It often happens in disciplines like ours that outsiders impose themselves. It’s true that we often hear that the Games are a one-day competition and that anything can happen, but that’s often the case.” she insists. And to quote the American Joss Christensen, whose place within the United States team was very disputed and who became to everyone’s surprise the first Olympic gold medalist in history in slopestyle in Sochi (Russia ) in 2014. Exit ratings. At the start of the Beijing Games, the only thing that Tess Ledeux keeps in mind: “You have a completely blank page, it’s up to you to write the story. »