All her life, Justine Dufour-Lapointe has been admired, envied and respected. She was also watched, judged and criticized.
Confined within a well-defined structure since she was of winning age, the two-time Olympic medalist left freestyle skiing for freeskiing, on the Freeride World Tour, to learn again. To feel alive again.
In skiing as in life, his guideline has evolved, but his objective remains to reach the end of the journey with a smile.
“Everything is new. I don’t have a trainer, I am self-financed, there is no coaching system. I’m alone with myself, ”says Dufour-Lapointe on the phone, live from Spain.
All this novelty and this effervescence linked to the unusual, “it was also part of the choice to go into a sport like that and fly a little more on my own”.
Free skiing remains a judged sport. It is nevertheless a discipline a little less known, or understood. Dufour-Lapointe has skied in the limelight all his career. At the top of the European mountains, with her backpack, the attention is a little less directed towards her. She also feels less pressure.
“My choice to make this change was mainly for that,” she says. To go and experience something new. To live with more freedom. It’s true, there may be less pressure, even if I still put myself under it. I really do it for me. I do it for fun first and foremost. »
Back to the top
When talking with The Press, a Monday evening, Spanish time, Dufour-Lapointe had finished sixth, earlier in the day, in Baqueira Beret. The purpose of the interview was to come back to his first competition in life.
“It’s a big step. I’m just glad I pushed my limits. The Quebecer had been the only skier to attempt a backward somersault.
“This is just the beginning and the possibilities are endless,” she said.
Dufour-Lapointe is an athlete of her word, or else she shares a friendship bracelet with the universe, because only four days later she picked up her first victory, in Ordino Arcalis, Andorra.
PHOTO JEREMY BERNARD
Justine Dufour-Lapointe (center) celebrates her first victory on the Freeride World Tour.
Arriving at the bottom of the track, Dufour-Lapointe was amazed. She was the last to go and her score of 74.00 was enough to allow her to lift the big triangular trophy. She was at a loss for words. Mouth wide open staring pointing.
“When I got downstairs, I had no idea what the outcome would be,” she said later in the evening from her hotel room. I didn’t realize how amazing it was to win today. »
After only two races, she was back to what she knew how to do best: winning. “It was definitely on my wish list. It was unreal. It’s a dream come true. »
In the mouth of the wolf
Unlike moguls, free skiing must be practiced with a bit of improvisation. The skiers do not do training sessions. They only have access to photos of the course. They make a single descent of two minutes. The snow conditions are pristine and the rocks are monstrous.
Dufour-Lapointe always takes off on spatulas, but like downhill skiing and cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing and freeskiing are two completely separate sports.
The key to success is adaptation. This is what ignites Dufour-Lapointe.
“This morning, an experienced forerunner left and triggered an avalanche. So half the mountain was washed away by snow. There was no more snow in the landings. We had to change our plans a bit,” she recalls about her first race.
Who says new environment says new ways of doing things. “It’s a process that makes me very humble. At 28, the youngest of the Dufour-Lapointe sisters must learn new techniques, new jumps and new elements of nature, in its raw state.
I’m faced with learning, but I realize that’s what I liked the most in the last few years.
Justine Dufour Lapointe
In our two conversations with the former world champion and 49-medal winner on the World Cup circuit, the word “potential” came up several times.
Mainly because she knows she still has a lot to offer. Also because this change of trajectory is not the beginning of a finality. This is just the beginning.