It was from a training room in Albertville (Savoie) that Perrine Laffont spoke this Thursday afternoon. The day after the press release issued by the French Ski Federation announcing her package for the coming season, the 25-year-old Frenchwoman explained what awaited her in the coming weeks: mogul skiing.
There is no question of drawing a line under his sport. “I still have two to three weeks of physical training block to have the green light to go on skis,” she explains. Training for a long period, avoiding travel, favoring stations close to your preparation center… This is the plan of the 2023 double world champion for this winter. In front of around twenty media and for around fifteen minutes, the Olympic champion of Pyeongchang (2018) detailed her choice.
Why did you decide to skip this season?
PERRINE LAFFONT. There are no World Championships, no Olympic Games this winter. There is a competition circuit that I don’t necessarily like with back and forth that I can’t imagine. I want to train and spend more time on skis, something we normally have very little time to do. It’s also to regain mental freshness because last winter, with the build-up to the Olympic season, was intense. I want to arrive in very good shape for 2025 and 2026, that’s why I want a slightly lighter season.
How do you feel after making this decision?
Of course, it wasn’t an easy decision to make because I remain a competitor and I love what I do every day. The years go by and it always causes a little more fatigue. We also realized that it was more and more difficult to do long periods of training with the lack of snow and I really want to use next winter for that. It’s quite exciting because it’s going to be something new, it’s going to be a winter that I’m going to experience differently. I’ll miss competing, but it’s something I need to do in my career. I am at peace with this decision, I am very happy with it.
When and how was this reflection born?
It was an exchange with all the medical staff and the technical staff, with my physical trainer, my mental trainer, the psychologists, etc. We made a big point after last winter and a season which was very heavy and very busy. When it was necessary to set the objectives for the coming years (…), we laid the foundations for 2025 and 2026. The decision was made as the preparation progressed.
“That’s the goal this year: not to fall back into the fatigue that we accumulate season after season. » »
Is this decision linked to physical fatigue or mental fatigue?
It encompasses both. When we establish long-term strategies, we take everything into account: my physical state as well as my mental state. I really want to arrive in 2025 and 2026 with a lot of mental freshness. I’ve been playing in the general ranking for 7 years and we know that it takes even more input because there is a lot of stress. I’ve been experiencing very mentally intense seasons for 7 years. Behind, there is a whole regeneration process to start from scratch and there we wanted a longer recovery part.
Has the idea of quitting ever crossed your mind?
No at all, even if I finished the season very tired. I had the chance to rebuild a whole new staff after the winter of the 2022 Olympic Games and I had a great time. (…) I fully love my sport and I don’t want to stop.
How are you going to make up for the lack of competitions this winter?
I really like to create deficiency with sport and that’s already what I did after the winters. I cut everything because I wanted to cultivate this lack. This is what we want to create with the competition to have the knife between our teeth for the next season.
In the documentary Strong, you talk about the difficult times you went through in the past. Is it also to prevent them from happening again that you are taking this break?
With experience, we learn to know ourselves better and our needs better. Thanks to these difficult periods, I was able to know what made me feel good, and what also tired me. I used it and will use it in the coming years. That’s the goal this year: not to fall back into the fatigue that we accumulate season after season. My track record is done, now it’s just a bonus! I know that I need freshness to perform well because I have already had episodes of fatigue and I don’t want to fall into that again.
