(Mont-Tremblant) Mikaël Kingsbury has planned to see his girlfriend after the first of two events at the Tremblant Mogul World Cup on Friday. Their meeting will be limited to a walk in the village, each with a mask.
With three weeks to go for the Beijing Olympics, there is obviously no chance to take. “It’s me asking that,” he noted after his training Thursday afternoon. I do not have a choice. I don’t want her to lock herself in her house so that she can see me for two days. […] We’re not 20 anymore. I will see her in the village, it is cool. She knows what we got into. She really wants me to be at the top of the trail. I really want to be at the top of the trail. It’s part of the game. ”
As Kingsbury says, “we’re coming to a point of no return soon.” “I can’t test positive from almost now. ”
Already isolated in its bubble, the Canadian mogul team has added a layer of security around its star and main contender for an Olympic medal. Basically, he’s in his own bubble.
He lives in isolation in his hotel room, the same where he was staying when he won the last event at Tremblant, two years ago. He eats all his meals there, does his warm-up and his physical conditioning. The only two people he meets with a mask are his trainer Michel Hamelin and his physical trainer and osteopath, themselves isolated.
“What is pocket in there is that I am already qualified. Normally this is the fun at this time. You can just focus on the things you want to do on the track for the Games. That’s kind of what happens, but it’s stressful. You want to trust your near world. At the same time, you don’t want to prevent them from living for you. This is the time I am most afraid of catching COVID-19. I’m not afraid to have it myself because I’m healthy. I’m more afraid of having it and not being able to go to the Games. So I am extremely careful. ”
Kingsbury kills time by playing on his video game console and communicating with his people virtually on their cellphones.
Always motivated on the track, the 29-year-old admits that the last few weeks have been tough on morale. He wouldn’t see himself doing another four-year cycle under those conditions.
“I love what I do, but I’m a little bored. I find it difficult to have to do so many tests, to miss parts of my life. I have little nieces that I don’t have the chance to see so many. They go to daycare. It’s riskier. ”
On the eve of the competition, Kingsbury seems to be overwhelmed with confidence for the two events at Tremblant. On the last descent of training, he found a new line that he will adopt for the race on Friday. “If I am able to repeat that tomorrow [vendredi], I’m going to be tough to beat. ”
Second in the general classification behind the Japanese Ikuma Horishima, the Canadian intends to take back the yellow leader’s jersey. His eighth place in Sweden, his worst result in more than 10 years in singles, and his third position at Alpe d’Huez, where he committed an unusual foul, did not shake him.
“Yes, I missed my super final, but I still think I was the best skier on the track. The next day I proved it [en l’emportant en parallèle]. It’s not necessarily big mistakes that make me question myself. I prefer to make these mistakes then. I have learned. On the weekend, I shouldn’t be doing that… ”
After the Quebec stages, the skier from Deux-Montagnes will fly to Utah for the last two World Cup events before the Olympics. The idea of missing them to avoid the risk of contracting COVID-19 does not seem to have crossed his mind.
“I am confident: it takes a negative test to take a plane for quite a few travelers. On a plane, you sit down, put on your mask, put on gloves, and disinfect everything around you. You sleep, that’s it, that’s all. You just don’t repeat what influencers have done! ”
Here is one who is not at risk of being called wanton by the Prime Minister.