Maxence Parrot’s “tremendously outdated” dream

(Beijing) At 15, Maxence Parrot had a fairly simple dream. “I just wanted to travel around the world, snowboard, earn money and not go to school,” he says, smirking. The competition ? It wasn’t even an afterthought. “I just wanted to make a living from my sport. »

Twelve years later, the Quebec snowboarder is a triple Olympic medalist. He won gold last week in freestyle downhill. Silver, in PyeongChang, also in acrobatic descent. And the bronze, on Tuesday, with a big leap, at the end of what was, according to him, “one of the greatest finals in the history of snowboarding”.

So, how does it feel with three medals, of three different colors?

“I don’t even know what to think anymore. I greatly exceeded my dream…”

This third medal will be the hardest to win. The afternoon didn’t go exactly as planned. His opponents started strong. Maxence, he fell. He had to adjust. Revise your strategy. Take out your calculator, even, to calculate your chances of winning. It was stressful. I even emptied the bin of biscuits, in the press center, at the bottom of the track. Imagine Maxence, at the top of the platform…

Exactly, Maxence, can you tell us how you experienced this completely crazy competition?

The first round

From the top of the platform, Maxence watched the big notes fall, one after the other. Like results on a multiple-choice physical education exam.

92. 89. 89. 87. 83. 82. 80.

His opponents chained spectacular jumps. Especially 1800 degrees, a difficult figure, but very profitable in the eyes of the judges. As Maxence had finished first in qualifying, he was the last to go down the track. The pressure was mounting.

“It’s dangerous to look at other people’s scores,” he explains. It stresses you out. You tell yourself that afterwards, you have to be 95 or 96. You have to stay focused, do your business, and not look too much at others. I know the other riders. I knew exactly what they were going to do. Except to see almost all of them [réussir] of the 1800, I definitely didn’t expect that. »

Parrot has also chosen a bold 1800. “I was too slow. I was not able to land properly. I crashed. » Result: 28.25 points. Far, very far from a passing grade. Since the final score is made up of the results of the two of three jumps, “it put a lot of pressure on me for the rest”.

The second round

Maxence Parrot’s opponents continued to record spectacular results. This was particularly the case of Yiming Su, already in the top three, who managed a jump of 93 points. From then on, Maxence Parrot suspected that his chances of winning gold had just melted away.

Su, 17, is the rising star of snowboarding. “Two years ago, I didn’t even know him, admitted Maxence. But he’s improving fast, fast, fast. ” How? ‘Or’ What ? By studying the jumps of the Quebecer, and those of another Canadian snowboarder, Mark McMorris. “They are my idols,” said the young Chinese after the race. “It made me a little velvet to hear that, confided Parrot. He told me that I was the one who forced him to surpass himself over the past few years. I replied: now you are the one who will push me to do better. »

For his second jump, Parrot retried the one he had missed a few minutes earlier. This time he succeeded. Almost to perfection. The judges rewarded him with a score of 94, the second highest of the day. “It was my best run of the week. I was really proud of that one. »

The third round

Between the last two jumps, Maxence Parrot had to revise his strategy.

“I took out my calculator and did some calculations. My original goal was to go for the gold. I knew it took another 1800. The second 1800 I wanted to do, I had attempted it a few times in practice, but I’ll tell you I landed half the time. There, I only had one descent left. If I landed, I won. If I didn’t land, it was over. For me, it was too risky. I preferred to ensure my place on the podium. »

So he opted for a more conservative leap. A 1620 degrees, which he had managed all week. “I knew that this strategy was going to deprive me of the gold, but that the silver medal was possible. »

For the last round, the order of participants changes. Riders descend according to the reverse intermediate classification. Parrot was therefore among the first to set off. His jump was… correct. “I was hoping for a nicer landing,” he agreed. Judges too. Their score: 75. “That’s not a lot. With a better landing, I probably would have had 82 or 83. And I would have been very confident [pour la médaille d’argent]. But the ? I was not confident. I was very nervous. I said to myself: ouuuuh, will it last until the end? »

Then it all came crashing down. The American Corning was ordinary. The Japanese Otsuka fell. The Norwegian Kleveland crashed. The Dutchman van der Velden too. Only the Norwegian Mons Roisland managed to slip between Su and Parrot, by a tiny point and a half. The caution of the snowboarder from Bromont therefore paid off. “I’m really proud of my strategy,” he said after the race.

Maxence Parrot was also proud not to have been defeated by the odious exit of his teammate Mark McMorris, who felt earlier this week that the Quebecer should not have won the gold in the freestyle descent, because of an error which escaped the judges.

“It was a big challenge for me to have to forget all that drama. I was able to put that aside, and not let that negativity affect me during the Olympics. After today, the Big Air, it will only be in four years. You don’t want to have a regret and say to yourself: tabarouette, if it hadn’t been for that, I might have been able to do better. All these last years, spent with my sports psychologist, taught me to be strong mentally, and to be able to handle situations like this. »

Very satisfied with his Olympic fortnight, Maxence Parrot is now eager to find his family – and to uncork a bottle of champagne. Or two. Or three. In any case, he said it four times during the press briefing. It’s going to be a big party at the Parrots.

And after that victory toast, what are the plans?

“A new chapter awaits me. I will be a dad in a few months. I am extremely happy. I’m going to put snowboarding aside for a moment, but for sure I will continue. »

” This is my passion. »