Cross-country skiing | Olivier Léveillé wants to put Sherbrooke on the map

Even though he collects the stamps in his passport, Olivier Léveillé’s heart is still in Sherbrooke. He went to see the world in search of records, but he knows that medals can only be bought with experience.

Léveillé was in Davos, Switzerland, some 6,000 kilometers from his native Estrie, when he picked up the phone.

In full preparation for his second season on the World Cup circuit, the 21-year-old cross-country skier has been living at a frantic pace for two years. Between each airport, he chained good performances. The majority of people of his generation have suffered from the pandemic which has scratched part of their youth. During this same period, Léveillé has consolidated what he has worked for for so long.

frantic pace

In 2020, he won his first medal at the Junior World Championships. The following year, he added a second. In 2022, he became an Olympian. “It certainly went quickly,” he admits. Especially since he finished the last season of the World Cup in a lion, with two top 10 in Falun, Sweden, the favorite trail of many cross-country skiers. His performance in the 15 kilometer freestyle, which earned him ninth place, was a moment of grace for him. Especially since he was wearing bib number 1. He was therefore the first skier to set off on this mythical track, in front of an invested crowd and still spared snow. He was a long way from his training sessions at Mount Orford.

It was on his return home that he realized how much his exploits had resonated. At the end of last winter, he returned to his local club. The wave of love he received from young skiers hit him hard. “It took me by surprise,” he says. He was delighted to see the enthusiasm that his performances had been able to generate, but above all to have done, in spite of himself, the promotion of a sport to which he decided to devote his life.

Léveillé talks not only about cross-country skiing, but also about sport in general, regardless of the discipline.

Sherbrooke has become a breeding ground for Olympians and each of them has become a model. “We have to give credit to Excellence sportive Sherbrooke,” insists Léveillé. They do a great job supporting the athletes. Among the Canadian delegation sent to the last Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, seven athletes were from Sherbrooke. For a city of barely 170,000 inhabitants, “it’s not nothing”!

A matter of time

In cross-country skiing, patience is key. In a long development sport like this, most athletes reach their peak in their late twenties or early thirties.

In the general classification of the last season, only three of the top fifteen cross-country skiers were aged under 26.

Also at Falun, in his best race ever, Léveillé held the lead position for a while. He even did better than the great Iivo Niskanen. Nevertheless, the product of the 2000s knows he will have to wait a while longer to be as talented as the Finn.

However, he notes that his progress is timely, with his six top 30 in 2022. He goes through every stage brilliantly and every stride on the World Cup circuit is another string to his bow. “Of course we want to jump on the podium right away, but I do my best and I love what I do, so it doesn’t seem too long either,” he says. .

His performance as a rookie is encouraging, he says, and he also admits to putting extra pressure on himself going into his second year. “Sometimes I’m afraid of falling back in the standings, of having a worse season after the expectations I may have created. His key to erasing his fears is remembering the reason he got on his spatulas at the age of 5. “It’s because I like it. I think that’s what allowed me to perform. »

Léveillé is always amazed. He lives his dream every day, even if he does not fully realize it. “I don’t feel it the way I imagined. By dint of going ever faster, it is less instinctive to look behind to see how far we have come. On the other hand, Léveillé never forgot where he came from.