Frédérique Turgeon is categorical: injustice and inequity are rampant in the world of para-alpine skiing.
“I would really like to talk about it. We don’t do it enough,” she said as she sat in one of the meeting rooms at The Press.
If Turgeon decides to empty her heart, it’s precisely because she loves her sport too much to let things go that way. Especially since her word has enormous value, given that she is one of the main faces of the Paralympic movement. Besides, although she is disadvantaged by the system, she nevertheless collects the medals. She won all the colors once again this season.
Her boyfriend Thomas was by her side. He wanted to accompany her because he also has a strong point of view on the matter. He is tired of seeing his lover undergo unfair treatment that has a direct impact on her performance, for which she gives herself body and soul, often in vain.
According to the 23-year-old skier, the athlete classification system is the Achilles heel of her discipline. On one leg, Turgeon and several of his counterparts had to compete with poorly ranked paraskiers who could still ski on two legs.
The difference is noticeable considering that Turgeon has to slide, jump and land on one leg. It is as if these additional difficulties were not considered during its classification. “I find it ridiculous. We have much less strength in our leg. We just have one. […] At the end of my race, my leg burns,” added the athlete from Candiac.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Frédérique Turgeon and her boyfriend Thomas Cyr
Turgeon, however, refuses to blame her rivals. If his sport is in crisis, it is because of the system.
During the interview, Ebba Årsjö was often mentioned. Simply because it is the most convincing and obvious example of the flaws in this system. Even though she is afflicted by a nerve disease in her right leg, the 22-year-old Swede can still walk as smoothly as a person without a disability and ski in the same category as the Quebecer.
Obviously, Årsjö takes it all. She doesn’t just win. She dominates her opponents. At the last Worlds, in Spain, she won the slalom event by a huge margin of 13 seconds. It can even happen to him to miss one or two gates, go up the track and finish with a lead of ten seconds.
“What I love about Ebba is that if I talk to her about it, that it doesn’t make sense, she will agree, I admire that, specifies Turgeon. It’s hard not to love him. »
A big problem
“I think there are some who are afraid of hurting the credibility of their sport. I’m not afraid to talk about it. It’s ridiculous and I think it should be fixed,” Turgeon says of his motivations for giving himself up.
However, as Thomas explains, the sport suffers more by maintaining such a system: “Ebba is very good. That’s mostly how the sport looks. She can fall, come back up, finish her race and win. When you see that, what does sport look like? »
This distortion of the system even prompted Turgeon to consider retirement last summer. “Some skiers win too easily and that discourages me. It depresses me a bit more and it takes away the passion I had for slalom a bit, because I was skiing just to do it, just to say, knowing that I couldn’t win even if Ebba made mistakes. »
All Turgeon is asking for is more fairness. “I like when it’s fair,” she insists.
If a skier deserves her victory, she will be the first to hug her.
“But when someone misses a gate or doesn’t show up for course inspection and still wins, it fascinates me, because you laugh at the sport. It’s a lack of respect for skiers like me who could have the best run of their life and still be far from winning. I find it demoralizing, unfair, for those who have always been devoted to it. »
look bad
On the circuit, the Turgeon factor is rated at 96.7% in slalom. A very low factor. The judges will therefore keep 96.7% of the time of his descent. She therefore has little advantage over an athlete with a one-hand handicap, for example, whose handicap would affect her results less. “Someone who is missing a few fingers is 100%, but she is on one leg! adds Thomas.
In other words, the difference in handicap between the two cases is considered minimal and having little impact on the results. Still, Turgeon is far from feeling like a nearly handicap-free athlete.
The worst part is that many will take advantage of their situation. Some skiers forget to take their medications before their classification to make their condition worse, only to take them for the competition. “These are things that we know, because it happened. »
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Discouraged, Frédérique Turgeon considered retirement.
The Paralympic movement is working hard to increase its visibility. In an ideal world, Paralympic athletes would be on an equal footing with Olympic athletes. However, the artisans of this movement must look in the mirror, believes Turgeon, because there are glaring inequalities within the movement itself.
“It takes credibility away from our sport. It seems like you have to be there and accept that the system is like that. The system has to change, because it’s really unfair to many of us. »
In the same vein, Thomas wonders if “we ski against the adversaries or against the system”.
Unfortunately, due to the situation, several paraskiers are leaving the discipline. The costs and time associated with travel, health care, nutrition and training are not always worth it for athletes destined to constantly finish outside the top 10. ” There are so many. It’s just that in our circuit and it’s unfortunate. »
The solution
For Turgeon, the first solution is to talk about it publicly. To bring the problem to light. Afterwards, in terms of competition, we would have to rethink the model, reset the counters to zero and reassess each individual with a classification and a factor unique to each of them, taking into account their handicap, and, above all, ensure regular follow-up to check everyone’s condition.
“Sometimes I try to have a conversation with people who win regularly, other than Ebba, and they are closed to seeing a change, because it benefits them,” says Turgeon.
For Thomas, there are not a thousand solutions. A skier who benefits from the system will have to sacrifice herself.
“Being a champion is not just about winning. To be a champion is to represent your sport, and in this case the disabled. I don’t want to pressure him [à Årsjö], but his responsibility would be to go out and talk, he continues. She should say, with the clout she has, that it’s not fair the way she wins. Talking about it with other skiers is one thing, but I think she should talk about it publicly. It will not change anything if it is skiers who lose who talk about it. They have to be winners. »