Gaming Frustration & the Pursuit of Victory

– He is going to become one of the Basques with the most participations in the Winter Olympic Games, equaling the Biscayan skier Ainhoa ​​Ibarra and surpassing the three of Iker Fernández from San Sebastian in snowboarding.

– It’s something I had never even dreamed of. It’s very big. The dream has been getting bigger and bigger and today I can say that I feel at peace. I have the feeling that no time has passed since I debuted at the Olympic Games in Sochi and I show up in Italy with my head in place. I’m super happy.

– Emphasizes the mental aspect more than the physical aspect.

– I also feel good physically but above all I feel that I am in a moment of maturity.

– The road has not been easy.

– For that very reason. I have had difficult moments in which I have come to doubt everything, whether it was worth continuing. I don’t want to insist too much on it but only I know how difficult it has been to overcome a period with severe back pain. Because it is one thing to live with pain and another thing when it becomes unbearable. That day at the Idre Fjäll station (Sweden) I thought I had broken my back. I cried a lot. In 2022, for example, to participate in the Beijing Games I had to undergo three infiltrations. One in preseason, another to start the season and the third just before participating in the Olympic Games. Then came the Achilles tear, from which I have also recovered well.

– And this season we are in started on the wrong foot. The preseason in Ushuaia went well but right afterward he suffered from mononucleosis.

– It was three weeks without being able to train. I tried not to bother too much because you can’t avoid the buzz of thinking that everyone else is already training, in top shape; while I was standing.

– What plan do you have until the Olympic Games?

– On Monday we are going to Austria for four days, to a concentration in the snow, and from there we travel to China where two World Cup events await us, where many are playing for their ticket to the Games. We are waiting to know if we have the opportunity to compete in one last event before the Games on the same track where the medals will be up for grabs. It would be an internal test, with those classified for the Games, coinciding with the opening day.

– What is the track on which the Games will be held?

– I don’t know her. I have seen the intended design but little else. Two months before the Games there are problems finishing certain installations, according to what I have received through different means. I know that the ice hockey rink is still to be finished and so is the snowboard and ski cross circuit. We will have to wait for the final result of the circuit design because one thing is on plan and another is reality.

– What are you waiting for? Could the circuit adjust to its characteristics?

– In recent times they have been opting for narrow circuits and I assume that will be the case. A priori it does not fit my characteristics because due to my physical constitution I prefer wide circuits where high speeds are reached. In recent years, the safety of the participants has been put first by reducing the areas in which speed is gained. This means that small riders, with less weight and volume, have options to adapt to the circuits. They are more mousey routes and I suppose that in the Games it will be like that too.

– But those who are fighting for the top positions remain the same.

– But new people are already appearing like Jonas Chollet, who at the age of 17 won the last round of the World Cup in mid-December. It was no surprise to me because he had been warning, as had his brother (Aidan). They are kids, French, with a lot of talent and potential. They remind me of young surfers who seem to have their board glued to their feet. They are very skilled but…

– You will say.

– In that World Cup event I was competing side by side with Jonas. He was the one who left me out in the quarterfinals after a super close round in which anyone could have won. If I was at the level of the one who ultimately won the test, it means that I’m not bad.

– There is plenty of experience.

– I feel like I’m ahead. I am going to be 32 years old, I have competed in many World Cup events, World Championships and the Olympic Games and it has to be noted.

– Of the three Olympic Games he competed in, he was the flag bearer in one event (PyeongChang 2018, in South Korea) and won the small final – capturing two Olympic diplomas – in the other two (in Sochi 2014, in Russia; and in Beijing 2022). Is it your turn to win a ‘big’ final?

– The goal is gold, I’m looking for it. And it is a goal that I believe in. And I’m going to fight for it. We have had a lot of work on our back, and even more so with the injuries I have had during these four years, during this Olympics… I want to do that, to somehow remove that thorn. We have worked very hard, as I have said; and I really believe we can fight for that. I have demonstrated it other times. I was world champion in 2021 and I have been on the podium many times in World Cup events; and I really believe I can fight for gold.

– Why are you now openly talking about being able to qualify for gold? I don’t remember him doing it before even though he has always been very sincere in his statements.

– Because as I said before, I have had some difficult years and now I feel very well. I have been able to recover 100% from both the back and Achilles ailments, and I have been able to train regularly. I feel like I’m reaching the shape I want to perform at the Games. Physically, mentally and technically I feel better than ever. If we add a little luck to that, which you always have to have in racing, I think I can fight for everything.

– Has the snow you experienced in your first Games changed a lot?

– Sportingly we have taken a step back. The old circuits were faster, more dangerous too, but I liked them better. In the Korean Games there were many injuries, seven people ended up in the hospital and that marked a before and after. It is true that the circuit was prepared with very different conditions than those on race day. It dawned very hard, very fast, and that hurt everyone. From that moment, everything changed. The International Federation called the athletes to chapter due to the many falls and accidents that occurred.

– Let’s review their performances in the Games. In 2014 he was seventh, winning in the round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals, and ended up winning the small final.

– That day we got the waxes right. We got the material right. It was a track that I really liked. I tried to attack as much as I could on a difficult day, with rain and poor visibility. I lacked a little experience because I got into fights in areas of the circuit that I shouldn’t have and a collision with a Canadian gave me a penalty.

– In 2018 he was the standard bearer. Sportingly it was not good.

– In general that year I was not competing well. I tried doing several things that didn’t turn out well. Maybe I was young and I accused him. I remember that the race I competed in after the Games also went badly and that’s when I told myself that something had to change. Curiously, the last tests of the season went well for me. It was not a good year, it was more of a transition.

– In 2022 it was seventh.

– I was affected by back pain and you can say that I was somewhat lucky because several competitors fell and I took advantage of that. It wasn’t good. I was very far behind in training, I didn’t run much, and the material wasn’t the best either. We didn’t get it right.

– Will there be fifth Games?

– I see those from France very far away. Now I go year by year. I don’t know if these will be the last and if I will get the medal or not, something very very difficult, but when I leave it I will be satisfied after a long career that I have worked hard for. I can’t think about that right now.