.
Thank you
Despite his difficult season, Alexis Pinturault saved the balance sheet of the French team with his title in the combined and his bronze medal in the super-G.
At 31, "Pintu" showed why he had built in twelve years the most complete record of French skiing with three Olympic medals, seven individual podiums at the Worlds, 34 World Cup victories and the big crystal globe 2021.
"A title and a bronze medal in my country, my resort, I will not experience it again. I have already done the Worlds with several medals, but not with the same emotions. Skiing at home gave me a little something , I wanted to have fun in front of the French public, my family, my friends, my village”, he commented.
.
Wounds, chocolate, no density
Pinturault's success hardly hides the balance sheet of the rest of the team: France, 6th in the medal table at home, counts on these championships as many medalists... as Greece.
A real setback after Cortina d'Ampezzo's five podiums in 2021.
The Blues can lament a few unfortunate race scenarios: Olympic slalom champion Clément Noël missed the podium by three hundredths of a second;
the young Marie Lamure finished at the foot of the parallel slalom podium;
giantist Tessa Worley, on her way to a podium, made a mistake a few doors from the finish.
But the absence of density in the team is obvious and has been accentuated by the withdrawals of the injured Victor Muffat-Jeandet, Matthieu Bailet, Thibaut Favrot and Cyprien Sarrazin.
"We were aiming for three medals, that's two, it's in line with our level in the world hierarchy. There was no miracle, we are in our place", judged the DTN Pierre Mignerey, lucid compared to a team that is struggling to get on the podiums of the World Cup circuit.
.
Pay attention to the sequel
Nastasia Noens during the first round of the women's slalom at the Alpine Ski Worlds on February 18, 2023 in Méribel, France © Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP
In this already sparse team, several executives will retire at the end of the season, such as Olympic downhill vice-champion Johan Clarey and slalom skier Nastasia Noens.
Tessa Worley, double world champion of the giant who has carried the women's team for ten years has not yet announced her decision, but seems to be leaving.
Several other executives, such as Pinturault (32 years old in March), Victor Muffat-Jeandet (34 years old in March) and Adrien Théaux (38 years old), are attacking the last part of their careers.
In Courchevel and Méribel, a few young people showed up, like the junior world champion Alban Elezi Cannaferina (19 years old) and especially Marie Lamure (21 years old).
The Courchevel skier ignited a purring public by touching the podium on the parallel (4th) before signing her best result at international level in the slalom (16th), she who scored her first World Cup points this winter.
"A certain number of skiers are going to stop, that's why we selected promising people, who represent the immediate future in the World Cup from next season, adds Pierre Mignerey. We will work with them to bring them to the top places. The team can be trusted to work with these youngsters and bring them to the highest level."
Asked about the success of Norway (9 medals), which is not part of the biggest budgets like Switzerland or Austria, the DTN recognizes that this country inspires the French federation.
"We have to look at how things are going with them, even if we can't copy the systems, they have a different approach. We have to organize our system with the culture and the means we have. We has work to have more + cards + to play. But yes, a little study trip to Norway would do us good."
© 2023 AFP