Jeff Bean is an accomplished trainer. Not because his protege Marion Thénault leads in the World Cup jumping standings or because three of his guys reached the superfinal during the Lac-Beauport stage last weekend.
No. What satisfies the head coach is that the Canadian team — which won a surprise medal at the team competition at the Beijing Olympics last February — in jumping is ahead of its progress in this first year of the Olympiad.
“We are very ahead, he said after the second stage, presented at the Le Relais ski center on Sunday. I didn’t think that Marion would have had the yellow jersey so quickly and that she would have managed two podiums in the first two stages. »
“Everyone is jumping well: we have four guys who did triple somersaults with four twists. I wouldn’t have thought it possible so early in their career. We also have a good succession in “Next Gen” and in the Quebec team: we had 14 competitors at the end of the week, and I think it’s the first time I’ve seen that in 35 years in the sport. »
On Sunday, Alexandre Duchaine finished fourth and Miha Fontaine posted his best World Cup result with fifth place, 24 hours after Lewis Irving also finished in the top five. Thénault took advantage of the weekend to sign his second career victory and claim the yellow jersey, while Flavie Aumond bounced back with a seventh place finish on Sunday and Rosalie Gagnon finished 11e after having participated in a first final.
progress
While it is true that the plateau is less high given the absence of Russians and Belarusians from competitions due to international sanctions, as well as Chinese during certain competitions, Bean is still able to see an increase that he wasn’t expecting anytime soon.
“I look at the results, but I also look at individual progress,” he said. Yes, there was a lack of competitors from certain countries, but I compare my jumpers to the results they obtained before. Even if some countries were missing, I see the progression. The results I appreciate, but in five minutes I’ll be watching the videos to continue the development. So I know all that, but the absence of these competitors does not bother me. »
Bean is working hard to restore a program that has seen dark days. Besides the bronze medal won by Thénault, Fontaine and Irving at the team competition in Beijing, Canada, the country where the sport originated, has not won an individual Olympic medal since the silver and bronze medals. of Veronica Brenner and Deidra Dionne at the Salt Lake City Games in 2002.
For men, we have to go back to 1994, in Lillehammer, Norway: Philippe Laroche and Lloyd Langlois were on the last two steps of the podium. Bean is the one who has come the closest, with a fourth place in 2002. Performances such as those achieved last weekend confirm to him that he is on the right track.
“You always want more, but if I take a step back and look at what the athletes have achieved, almost everyone has had good performances. Everyone has upped their performance by a notch. »
“It’s my philosophy: we are an individual sport, but we work as a team. It’s good to see different members having success: everyone else is drinking from it. […] I think this weekend will push us hard for practice next week and the Canadian Championships. »
family history
The Lac-Beauport World Cup is a family affair for the Fontaines. In addition to Miha with the national team, Nicolas was on site with his proteges from the Quebec team, including his daughter, Charlie, who was taking part in a first stop on the circuit. To this trio, we must add Caroline Dubreuil, spouse of Nicolas and mother of the siblings, who led the organizing committee for this weekend of competitions.
Charlie was particularly happy with her performance, but especially to have been able to share for a few days the world of her big brother and, formerly, of her father.
” [Nicolas et Miha] told me to have fun throughout the weekend, that I was going to make memories that I was going to keep all my life, said the 17-year-old skier. It’s really fun. I really had to fun training with my brother. We really like that. Usually, we only see videos on a tablet. There, we saw each other “in real life”, and we were really impressed with each other. We could talk to each other more: after a jump, he sometimes came to see me to tell me that my jump was good, but that I could have done such and such a thing more. »
“I’m very proud of Charlie, who landed his jump well this morning,” said Nicolas Fontaine. The smile she had was worth all the gold in the world. I was super happy. It was a very nice day for Charlie and a very nice day for Miha. »
“My mother organized this World Cup, so I’ve been hearing about it for months,” added the latter. My father who coaches my sister: it looks like I’m in regional competition, but on the World Cup! »
“It’s really good to be at home: whether you have a good performance or a bad one, you are not alone in northern Finland to experience it. There, at least, you have your family supporting you a bit, not just your teammates. It’s hard sometimes the atmosphere of condos, when for some of your teammates, it’s going really well, and for you, it’s going more mellow. Since everyone is going home, you can have your moment on your own. »
The Dubreuil-Fontaines will be able to relive the experience at least once: the Lac-Beauport stage has been confirmed on the 2023-2024 calendar of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation.