It looks like a waltz, but the pilot dances alone and in slow motion. Standing at the top of the course in his skin-tight jumpsuit and black helmet waiting for the start, he rocks gently from side to side, eyes closed and hands clutching the handles of imaginary steering cables. He hurtles down the 1.6 km track in his head, negotiating each of its 16 turns, avoiding touching the sides that would cause him to lose speed.
“The track at the Beijing Games is not dangerous as that of Whistler can be [en Colombie-Britannique] or certain tracks in Germany, explained the former professional football player, Samuel Giguère, a few days before leaving for China, where he will be part of one of the three Canadian four-man bobsleigh teams. However, it is very technical, especially in the first corners, where you go slower, and at the end of the course, where sometimes it goes up, which, in both cases, turns out to be very costly if you make a mistake and you lose speed. »
The 36-year-old athlete from Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs waited a long time before realizing his Olympic dream. Arrived in the Canadian bobsleigh team at the same time as his career began in the Canadian Football League, the former receiver of passes, in particular of the Montreal Alouettes, was immediately asked by the first to put his football career on pause for at least a year if he wanted to be part of the adventure of the Sochi Games in 2014. “It was something that I was not ready to do”, recalls – he. At the following Games, everything was fine until he got injured just a month before leaving for Pyeongchang and was demoted to a substitute. But this time is the right one. “I’ve been pursuing this goal for a long time and I’m happy to do it with teammates that I really like. »
In the crew piloted by Christopher Spring, a Canadian of Australian origin who is in his 4and participation in the Games, Samuel Giguère will be the fourth brakeman, that is to say the one who pushes the sled and jumps into it last at the start, and the only one who really has the task of braking the racing car at the end of the course. “Races are won with three things of equal importance: a good start, a good driver and good equipment. The first round will take place Saturday morning in Beijing (starting at 8:30 p.m. Friday night EST).
departure
At the start, the bobsledders have, at most, five seconds to launch their sleds, jump inside and wedge themselves into them. “At 213 kg, it’s quite heavy to take off, but it quickly becomes difficult to follow,” explains Samuel Giguère.
The day of the passage of Duty At the National Center for Sliding Sports in Yanqing, about 100 kilometers northwest of Beijing, the men’s two-man bobsled crews and the pilots of the new women’s individual bobsleigh (monobob) event were training. Initially, the roaring colossi’s studded running shoes sounded like tap shoes on the ice.
After a few tens of meters of thrust, their sled is already going at about 40 km/h and the crew can only rely on gravity and the control of their pilot to get to the bottom as quickly as possible.
Piloting
All along the 121-metre track, you could come across pilots and their trainers analyzing the course, discussing the best trajectories to follow and spotting the pitfalls to avoid. Every two minutes or so a car zoomed past with a dull thud and the metallic clack of an old roller coaster car.
“You don’t drive for the curve you’re in – everything is going too fast – but for the next one that’s coming up,” explains Michael Kuonen, a substitute driver for the Swiss team with whom we watch the bobsleighs go by at the middle of the mind-blowing spiral that makes them turn 180 degrees almost vertically. “It’s anything but a smooth descent. It shakes a lot. Some tracks are so bad that it’s sometimes hard to see well ahead and you end the descent with a headache,” he says.
Samuel Giguère, for his part, will see nothing. Head tilted in the cockpit to ensure the best possible aerodynamics, he will try to stay as aligned and immobile as possible to avoid unbalancing the sled. “We push a lot and it’s far from comfortable. First, there is no seat inside or protective cushion, nothing soft. It’s just metal, carbon and graphite. And then, let’s say that it brews quite a bit when you string together tight turns at 140 km/h. »
equipment
As in motor racing, all the teams do not fight on equal terms, explains the Quebecer. “As in Formula 1, without good equipment, it is impossible to think of the podium. »
Good sleds cost an average of $100,000 each (over $144,000), and they should come with good suspension systems and runners, too. They are generally designed by automotive or aeronautical companies – or by subcontractors – who have the best expertise in aerodynamics, as well as the necessary technological means, such as wind tunnels and simulators.
“Right now, the Germans have the best bobsleighs. They are designed by a paragovernmental company,” says Samuel Giguère.
The Swiss pilot, Michael Kuonen, confirms and goes further. “With their bobsleighs, German pilots can afford small mistakes that would normally cost them victory and still win. »
The Canadian crews will still be able to defend themselves, assures Samuel Giguère. “We are lucky, we have the financial resources and the contacts to have access to very good equipment. We can compete with the best. »
This report was financed thanks to the support of the Transat International Journalism Fund.The duty