Val Saint-Côme World Cup | Elliot Vaillancourt triumphs as reinforcement

(Saint-Côme) We were waiting for Mikaël Kingsbury. We finally got Elliot Vaillancourt.

The only Canadian representative in the super final, the 24-year-old reached the podium for the second time in his career on Friday by winning silver in the individual moguls event of the Freestyle Skiing World Cup from Val Saint-Côme.

It was cold in Lanaudière. To the point that the first wave of medalists were unable to splash the champagne. The bottles were completely frozen.

The temperature felt was -21 when Vaillancourt set off for his last descent, at the very end of the evening. And the mercury had dropped to -27°C when he came to address members of the media, silver medal around his neck. Despite the polar cold, young supporters were still waiting for him, brandishing signs with his image.

At the top, Vaillancourt was the penultimate to start, by virtue of a huge descent in the semi-final having taken him from 15^e at 2^e position.

Moreover, just before leaving the blocks, the Quebecer wanted to take a good sip of water. “But my bottle was frozen stiff,” said the skier with a smile. So I told myself I was going to drink some water downstairs, but it ended up being champagne! »

Vaillancourt was only overtaken by Olympic champion Walter Wallberg, author of a magnificently fast and flawless descent. This is his first World Cup victory in individual downhill. His compatriot Filip Gravenfors closed the podium.

If the two Swedes are podium subscribers, Vaillancourt is only on his second ascent on the steps of success. On December 15, he also took second place in Alpe d’Huez.

“The French crowd had no idea who I was with my bib 56,” he said. Suddenly, winning at home had a particularly pleasant taste in the mouth.

“ [Ça] tastes different, because it’s home. So, arriving downstairs and seeing my father in tears behind the media is completely ruined! »

Tough day for Kingsbury

Obviously, expectations were immense for the best worker in the world and local hero Mikaël Kingsbury.

The overall leader, however, fell when landing his first jump during the final.

The 31-year-old athlete presented himself with a downcast expression a few moments after his discomfiture, which was unexpected and unusual to say the least.

“It would take me maybe another five minutes and maybe I would give better answers, but I’m a little disappointed, I don’t have many words. »

According to him, he misjudged his landing distance. On his 1080 jump, he said he stretched his leg a little too much. “I misjudged it,” he admits.

Of course, expectations were immense. Kingsbury had flown through qualifying. In seven races this season, he had only made podiums. “It’s good, because I have high expectations to achieve big results and I wanted to do well in the first race at home. »

He finally took the 13^e rank. It was his first fall in over a year. The last one occurred in France in December 2022. He then finished in 29^e position.

Kingsbury also had to hand over his yellow leader’s bib to his eternal rival Ikuma Horishima.

Obviously, this evening did not end as planned. At least, for Kingsbury, whose pride was not shaken. ” The error is human. I don’t always take the time to look at what I’ve done and say to myself that it’s incredible, what I’ve accomplished. I live too much in the present moment. »

Jakara Anthony, again

Among the women, Jakara Anthony once again imposed his domination. The Olympic champion has triumphed in seven of the eight races since the start of the season.

She is unstoppable. And above all extremely smiling and jovial. This is undoubtedly not unrelated to this.

“I don’t know if you ever get used to it, but it’s a privilege to be top every week,” said the Australian, with the same accent as Margot Robbie, while steam came out of her mouth.

Perfection doesn’t exist in sport, much less in freestyle skiing, but Anthony comes incredibly close every time she hurtles down a slope in the World Cup.

The main interested party, however, remains in constant search of improvement. “There will always be things in my skiing that I will want to improve. I can tell you a thousand things that I didn’t like in my descent, even if I finished on the highest step of the podium,” specifies the 25-year-old athlete.

Then, even if she is in search of perfection, she has already mourned reaching it one day or another: “Every time I get closer to it, I want to push the limits of perfection, and that’s it. that’s why I’m here today. »

Abrupt end for Schwinghammer

Never before has Maïa Schwinghammer experienced such a convincing and solid qualifying round.

Of the 30 skiers on the track, she took provisional second place.

“I think I was too nervous,” she admitted, moments after giving up midway through the semi-finals. Just before the second jump, the best skier in the country mixed speed and imbalance, which is rarely a happy combination in this sport where all the details count.

“I made a little mistake on the top jump and it cost me my race. »

The 22-year-old athlete had nevertheless confidently climbed to the top of the mountain before setting off. “I felt really good to finally post a qualifying run that I was really proud of. »

But it is still by relying on this good descent that she hopes to be able to arrive with panache, this Saturday, for the parallel event.