Audrey Robichaud | To you, the athlete who does not go to Beijing

“Just because you’re not going to the Olympics doesn’t mean you’re a failure,” says ex-freestyle skier Audrey Robichaud on the phone.

Katherine Harvey Pinard
The Press

On January 25, Audrey Robichaud “emptied her heart” in a short but poignant post on her Facebook page. “Even if you are not going to the Olympics, you are still a beautiful human being who, I hope, practices your sport because you simply like it”, she wrote in particular.

Every four years, a limited number of athletes qualify for the biggest international competition in the world. For weeks, sports fans only have eyes for themselves. We talk about it everywhere, all the time. “But we forget those who were a hair away from going there,” laments Robichaud.

The 33-year-old has therefore decided to address these athletes who will not be going to Beijing, but who have also invested time, energy and money in their sport over the past four years.

Robichaud experienced the euphoria of the Games three times, in 2006, 2014 and 2018. But she also experienced the immense disappointment of not qualifying in 2010.

“At that time, I turned to the people I loved the most, my family and my friends. They were really there for me, they changed my mind. When I was ready, I said to myself: I will go to train. »

The native of Quebec, still young, redoubled her enthusiasm to go to the next Games. But not all athletes can afford to wait another four years, she says.

“There are plenty of people I know on the Canadian team who haven’t been supported by the government for a few years. They had to work, they had no choice. They couldn’t train. And for them, when you are one month away from the Olympic Games, when you have an injury or when you are not selected… You say to yourself: did I do this for nothing? »

Do amateur sports athletes feel that only the Games matter? we ask him. “Put it on! she exclaims.

“We have sponsors, but unless you have a recent photo in the newspaper, they have almost no recognition. They are the ones who give us money, who help us to continue. And there, when you arrive at the Olympic Games, you cannot show your sponsors. It’s a bit nono, when you think about it. »

Pleasure

In her Facebook post, Audrey Robichaud reminds athletes that their “sport does not [les] not define”. She herself remembers this feeling of having let down those around her in 2010, when she did not qualify for the Games.

“But looking back, it’s not that at all! she says. Now I realize that, but that’s because I got older and gained experience. »

The Quebecer retired from ski racing in 2018. Today, she is the head coach of the freestyle ski team at Le Relais Ski Center, made up of young people aged 6 to 18. Lesson number 1: have fun.

“I hardly ever mention the Olympics,” she says. It’s more than that. I’m going to teach them how to ski, it’s my job, that’s why I’m here. But at the same time, for me, it’s more important to teach them to be good athletes and good humans. If the end result at the end of that is that they go to the Olympic Games in 10 years, so much the better! »

Audrey Robichaud was never one to run for medals during her years on the World Cup circuit. She fueled rather the pleasure and pride she felt when arriving at the bottom of the track after a descent.

“When you’re a high-level athlete, it’s like a job and you’re caught up in the process. We are [réglé] quarter turn. We are told what to do and when. We get corrected. Sometimes, that’s a lot of information and we want to succeed so much that we stray a little too far from that goal, which is to have fun. »

“Since last year, I’ve really understood what it’s like to have fun skiing. That’s the one thing I wish for everyone in sports: to be able to find the fun in it all and not get too caught up in the high performance game. But at the same time, I say that and I was in it four or five years ago. I know how hard it is to separate. »