Accompanied by her mother, Chloé Dufour-Lapointe presented herself to the editorial staff of The Press with his school bag hanging from his back, at the end of August.
Posted at 7:30 a.m.
She was preparing to make her first return in person to the bachelor’s degree in fashion management and design at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), started remotely during the pandemic.
“I’m more stressed going to school than being at the top of an Olympic course. It doesn’t make sense! “, chuckled the young thirty-year-old, who was especially worried about not being able to marry all her passions with full-time university studies.
It’s no surprise that this “great dreamer” is drawing a line under her career as a freestyle skier specializing in moguls. She made the official announcement in a very personal letter published Wednesday morning on the Radio-Canada website.
“It comes from my little inner voice, the one I’ve always had. I cried writing it and I cried reading it to people around me, my parents first. At the same time, it was a very nice conclusion. »
The day after his ninth place at the Beijing Olympics, on February 6, 2022, Dufour-Lapointe was on a plane to return to Canada, Chinese health regulations require. She joined her family in the Bahamas to celebrate her fourth and final participation in the Olympics.
The following month, she took part in her very last World Cups, in Megève, in the French Alps. In front of her boyfriend, who was accompanying her for the first time in competition in Europe, she set off in “the spirit of [s]’have fun and just go full circle’.
Lining up for the 141e and 142e time on a circuit event, she equaled a Canadian record in freestyle skiing.
She gave herself the summer to remember her long career marked by 27 podiums, including two World Cup victories, a crystal globe, a world title and, of course, a silver medal at the Sochi Olympics, where she conquered the planet before stepping onto the podium, holding hands with her younger sister Justine, a gold medalist.
Still, his best memory is the podium shared with Justine and her older sister Maxime at the Val-Saint-Côme World Cup on January 23, 2016.
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, PRESS ARCHIVES
The Chloé sisters, Justine and Maxime Dufour-Lapointe at the Val-Saint-Côme World Cup in 2016
“That day, we knew it was possible. We didn’t speak, but the energy was there. It was really significant for all three. »
“I have other challenges”
Aged 30, Chloé Dufour-Lapointe has devoted two-thirds of her life to her sport and half to the highest level. Even if she has “plans A, B, C, D” for the rest of things, she does not turn the page without feeling “a pinch”.
“Retirement is never easy, especially not at 30. At the same time, I was ready for this. I still loved freestyle skiing, I was passionate about it, but I was there in my life. I have other challenges. I also look forward to traveling less. I still love travel, but perhaps less intensely!
“At 30, it’s harder on the body. It’s still an extreme sport, impact, and there are risks in all that. When you get older, you calculate a little more, you are less reckless. »
Despite these 15 seasons in the World Cup, the Montrealer has never suffered serious injuries, with the exception of a concussion in the winter of 2020.
“There is nothing that bothers me in my everyday life. It’s really a great pride to be healthy. My parents had found us a [préparateur physique] which has always helped us to prevent injuries. It was one of the keys to our success. »
Without having the innate talent of her little sister, Chloé stood out for her precocity and her perseverance until the very end.
She had just finished her fifth secondary when she placed fifth at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. Her joie de vivre and her sparkling eyes had marked the spirits then. “It was the naivety of youth, the pleasure of trying. »
The following winter, she won silver in the dual event at the World Championships on the demanding Deer Valley course, losing in the final to her idol Jennifer Heil. She had done her compatriot a favor by defeating her great American rival Hannah Kearney, Olympic champion in singles.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Chloe Dufour-Lapointe
Two years later, in Norway, Dufour-Lapointe climbed to the top step of the podium, still in parallel, a specialty that often smiled on her. “I missed my start, I caught up with the girl and I skied like a rocket… I don’t really remember that descent, but I skied with fire in my eyes. »
” A fairy tale “
In Sochi, she experienced an apotheosis with Justine, but also Maxime, who reached the semi-final.
“It was a fairy tale. Everything was calculated, organized for the performance. I had a plan and I executed it. The people around me ensured that I was free from distractions. At the end of the evening, it was just euphoria. It was magical. It was exactly like the little childhood dream I imagined. »
PyeongChang in 2018 was “a little rougher…” The cancer that struck her mother the previous season deeply “destabilized” her.
“It was more like a nightmare, noted the one who ranked 17e. It took me a long time to forgive myself and realize what had happened. I was just injured and the disease had changed my perspective on the sport. »
His last Olympic cycle also had its share of pitfalls in store for him. Deprived of snow training in the pandemic, she struggled to master the new off-axis jump that she has sworn to perform in Beijing in 2022.
At the end of the course, she “felt neglected by her federation”, Freestyle Canada, which did not recommend her to Sport Canada for funding, a first in her career. She unsuccessfully challenged this decision before the Sports Dispute Resolution Center.
Disappointed, Dufour-Lapointe was not distracted. Her selection for the Olympics was announced to her at the very last minute, after first being told that she would only be the first substitute.
His ninth place in the Chinese capital, the best Canadian result, finally proved him right.
“It was really a liberating descent, she rejoiced. I let myself go, I floated, I made my best cork. It was a descent in complete freedom. »
“A great passion for fashion”, already involved in entrepreneurship with the clothing company Tissées Tightes which she founded with her sisters, attracted by the world of television, conferences and philanthropy, Chloé Dufour-Lapointe has several strings to his bow. One thing is certain: his second career will be “multidisciplinary”.
“My retirement is emotional, but they are joyful emotions. I’m ready to make that turn. I have a blank page in front of me and I can decide what I want to do with it. »
Exactly like when she was shaking her skis at the top of a hill full of bumps.