Paris (AFP)

Kevin Aymoz, "very happy" to have obtained two quotas for the Olympics-2022 in the men's category at the World Figure Skating Championships on Saturday in Stockholm, aims to "get as close as possible to the Olympic podium" in a year to Beijing.

"It was my goal to be in the top 10 to qualify two skaters (French) for the Olympics, Aymoz recalls. It was close to my heart. I was very stressed. I'm happy with what I did. even though the program wasn't perfect and I made some mistakes. "

Already ninth after the short program, the skater from Grenoble retained the same position at the end of the free, with a total of 254.52 points, despite an incomplete rotation of one of his two quadruple toe loops and two rough landings.

"I had a lot of pressure. It was very important for me to have two places, we haven't had that since Sochi (in 2014)," said Aymoz.

"I am very happy, I fought, I did not give up, I feel that the pressure has disappeared," he continues.

Aymoz will not make the trip to Beijing without ambition.

"My goal is to get as close as possible to the Olympic podium, to be in the top 5, he says. To be on the podium, it's going to be very hard, but I'm going to work as hard as possible. to perform at the Olympic Games, the European Championships (in January 2022 in Tallinn) and the World Championships (in March 2022 in Montpellier). "

- Between France and the United States -

"We will have to work, technically and artistically. My main objective is to put at least five quads, two in the short and three in the long. Loop toe and Salchow, I know more about it. We will work on the Lutz. and the Flip, they are good in training, he explains. And I want to create two programs where we say: + It's Kevin Aymoz +. "

How will he organize his Olympic season, he who was training in Florida before the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, with John Zimmerman - suspended for two years in the Morgan Ciprès case but who can appeal - and Silvia Fontana, but who has spent the past year in Grenoble, with Françoise Bonnard?

He plans to "do 50-50 between the United States and France" but "because of the coronavirus, it is very confused for the moment, it is still to be defined".

"We are a real team, he insists. Françoise has been my coach for more than fifteen years, and John and Silvia, it is thanks to them that I am in the world top 10, they bring me a lot. "

Two years ago, Aymoz placed eleventh at the Worlds in Saitama, Japan.

© 2021 AFP