Frédérique Turgeon thought of stopping everything. His last Paralympic cycle was grueling and cruel. She had even lost the pleasure of skiing. Here she is again, in peace, after a sporting heartache that made her grow up. Winning again, she relearned to love her sport.
The pain of love is a symbolic image, like an allegory, to illustrate the feeling felt by Frédérique Turgeon with regard to her discipline. In reality, she spins the perfect happiness with her companion of the last six years, Thomas.
The lovebirds showed up together in the newsroom of The Pressfour days after the paraskier returned to Quebec.
In Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, the 23-year-old athlete had just won her first gold medal of the season, in the downhill. The next day, she went down one place on the podium.
“I was really relieved, because I was like, ‘Phew, I still have it!’ », says Frédérique Turgeon, on the other side of the table.
All the stars are aligned for the star of Candiac. In December, she finished in fourth place three times in a row in technique and speed. “I just didn’t have enough aggression. I have to ski to win. »
What she did at the Worlds, without it being enough. She won bronze in the downhill.
“I was a little disappointed,” she said, playing with the collar of her white jacket. I made a mistake at the end which was huge and, in my opinion, I had let go of a gold medal at Worlds. »
The bronze snowflake around his neck still secured him a spot on the national program for the next two seasons. She also finished fourth in the combined and fifth in the super-G.
With very little hindsight, she speaks with pride of her performance, but above all of her outfit. To have remained upright facing the wind. The storm of recent years has not carried it away. Instead, she got up to move forward, as she does all the time.
Hold on again
In 2018, Frédérique Turgeon had her best season ever.
But since then, her father died suddenly, she had to part ways with her beloved coach, her best friend left the national team and she suffered health problems, including a major back injury. She expected to find some light during the last Paralympic Games in Beijing, but in training, a few days before her first event, she seriously injured her leg. She had to give up on the biggest competition of her life. The one she had clung to, like a buoy, for four years.
“There were ups and downs. In fact, many lows and very few highs. However, hope saved her.
I think everything happens for a reason and maybe my Games injury happened so I have a different approach with speed.
Frederique Turgeon
Indeed, in China, she had a revelation. Being technical by nature, her future likely lay in speed events, she realized. Despite a heavy fall, something had just kindled in her.
Thomas moved forward in his blue armchair to intervene. “At the Paralympic Games, she went all out in training and even though she hurt herself, she saw that there was hope, and there she won medals. »
“I was still happy despite everything, because it had been two years since I had had fun like before,” adds Frédérique Turgeon.
Previously, slalom was the favorite discipline of the one-legged. “I was more comfortable, but time passes and I think: ‘OK, no, this is not where I’m going to win my globe.’ »
An important observation given the dissimilarity between the technical and speed events. They are almost two separate sports. Few skiers are comfortable in each category.
I have to realize that maybe I’m better at speed instead of convincing myself that I’m a technician.
Frederique Turgeon
She is now driven by the desire to succeed, and especially to learn, where she sees immense potential. “Passion, feeding and learning, for me, increases my love for my sport and keeps me going. The second I get jaded with what I do, I think that’s when I’m going to have had enough. »
A long thought
For five months away from the slopes, the desire to get back in the saddle lived in him. He missed adrenaline and speed. It got the green light at the end of the summer, and everything has been running smoothly ever since.
“I am proud to persevere and be resilient as I am. I’m able to really put aside what happened at the Games, or even feed on that. I am able to feed on my emotions or my sadness and turn them into something positive. »
However, this reflection comes at the end of a period during which Frédérique Turgeon thought of retiring. On the one hand, because the last few years had deeply shaken her. On the other hand, because she didn’t know if all this dedication was worth it. She had already accomplished so much and enough for herself, her sport and the Paralympic movement. Especially since with the handicap classification method, the winners are always the same. That is to say those who can ski on two legs.
This summer, I thought about it a lot [à se retirer]. It’s the first time I’ve thought about it so much. I thought about it often. Even I started to say that I didn’t know if I was going to make it to the next Games, and still to this day, I don’t know if I will. In fact, I want to, but it’s not the priority.
Frederique Turgeon
Only one thing could deter her. “I had to find something to hold on to, because it wasn’t right. »
It was there that she began to get good results in downhill and super-G, two relatively foreign disciplines. “I’m proud of myself right now, considering I thought about quitting. I still have it, at 23, after two years telling myself that I no longer had it. »
The skier has confidence in her abilities again. But especially in her. Few people would have found the strength to continue or the motivation to move on.
That’s why Turgeon is where it is today. That’s why Thomas looks at her with admiration. That’s why she continues to win, despite everything.