Posted at 5:00 a.m.
(Beijing) Under the powerful reflectors of the Genting snow park, Mikaël Kingsbury nodded to his trainer Michel Hamelin. The cold, dry snow crunched under the ski boots. Condensation steam was coming out of the vents. Frost accumulated around the edges of the toques.
It was nearly 7:30 p.m. and Kingsbury had made up his mind. After an inconclusive attempt on the left course, the most popular among skiers in this third training session, the athlete from Deux-Montagnes chose to return to his original intuition: this will most likely be the right trajectory for the qualifications of the moguls at the Beijing Olympics, Thursday evening, on the eve of the opening ceremony.
Even if the top jump, a bit misaligned, annoys him a little.
“It’s the line that I like the most, analyzed Kingsbury, double mask in the face. There are a few things I want to correct, but I had the fastest session times. I went to investigate in the left line to see how it was. People seemed to ski well there. But for now, it’s not a line that I like 100%. I still managed to make a nice descent in it, but I like it more [du côté] straight skier. »
The reigning Olympic champion had just answered the first question of The Press that the press secretary was growing impatient.
“Just one question,” she ordered. Sorry, I am on strict orders… It was meager loot after a 40-hour door-to-door trip from Montreal… Visibly more relaxed than the rest of his entourage, Kingsbury told him he was fit to handle this himself. After the Games in PyeongChang where he was on a tightrope until the end of the competition, the 29-year-old man shows up in Beijing in a completely different state of mind.
“I started skiing because I have fun doing it,” he said. I still have so many. We are at the Olympics. I am business and focused and I want to perform. In PyeongChang, I was so focused on my business that I have almost no memories of my descents there! Whereas here, when I’m skiing, I’m there, in the present moment. It’s the fun. »
“More mature”
Leaning on one of the countless blue fences in the finish area, his mental trainer observes the same thing of his protege, with whom he has worked for eight years.
“He showed up in PyeongChang and he hadn’t yet fulfilled his childhood dream,” noted Jean-François Ménard. He was on a quest. Now he wants to win a second gold medal, it’s no secret, but when you’ve already achieved your dream, the rest is like candy. Its purpose is completely different.
“He is much more mature as a person and as an athlete, chained the trainer. Four years have passed. He continued to evolve, technically, tactically. I feel much calmer. The butterflies are still there, the pressure too, but he sees it in a different way. »
The “pressure” is intangible, likes to remind Jean-François Ménard, who compares it “to the volume of a radio”: “It’s the same song, but the volume is a little louder at the Olympics. »
“An Olympic descent”
Kingsbury seems to be in tune. “I feel less pressure on my shoulders, if only in my interviews. I’ve done it before, I know how to do it. It annoys me less to go through all the rounds. My state of mind is better. »
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, PRESS ARCHIVES
Mikael Kingsbury
With each response, the press secretary approached a little more. “I’m going to get myself in trouble…”, she worried.
But the man with bib number 1 wanted to talk about what excites him the most: skiing. The artificial snow hit hard will represent an additional obstacle to get through the three rounds.
“It’s harder on the body because it’s solid and it fits in. But when you know how to absorb [les bosses], it is still pleasant to ski. It’s not bad on snow like that that I learned to ski in Saint-Sauveur. I like it. It’s not my favorite, but I’m able to stand out when it’s tough like that. »
His plan is very simple: “I want to do an Olympic downhill. I know it sounds like a cliché, but I really want to have fun on all my runs. I want to be able to do the skiing that I am capable of in conditions that are not easy. But I kind of built my career on that: snow like that. Whenever it’s looked like this in my career, I’ve often stood out.
“The important thing for me is to stay smooth. I keep things simple. I ski with my eyes, I absorb quickly, I remain patient on the last jump down. »
The interview ended, much to the press officer’s relief. Kingsbury grabbed his backpack, slung his skis over one shoulder and stopped for a few minutes to chat with an American competitor before heading to the Athletes’ Village to warm up.
A famous absentee
PHOTO RICK BOWMER, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Ikuma Horishima
Mikaël Kingsbury noted a major absentee from Tuesday’s training session, the penultimate before qualifying on Thursday evening: Ikuma Horishima, one of his announced main rivals and runner-up in the World Cup standings. “He may be hurting somewhere, raised the Quebecer. I noticed that it’s been a few competitions that he spares. Horishima, two-time world champion in 2017, won the last World Cup event, beating Kingsbury at Deer Valley on January 14.