Justine Dufour-Lapointe happy to finally have sore feet

“Putting my ski boots back on and having painful feet was a good ‘feeling’.”

• Read also: Chloé Dufour-Lapointe: a rekindled flame

At 26, champion Justine Dufour-Lapointe remains one of Canada’s best hopes for a medal at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2022. Gold medalist at the Sochi Games in 2014, she also has a silver decoration obtained in Pyeongchang, a little over two years ago. Climbing for a third time on the Olympic podium is his new goal, COVID-19 or not.

“The next Olympic Games are a daily stress,” she first sums up, she who has recently returned from a training camp with the Canadian freestyle ski team which took place in Zermatt. , in Swiss. First, is it going to take place? And will it take place on the scheduled date? But in reality, you can’t have this questioning every day because it would become difficult to manage your emotions. We must not waste energy on this. We have to control what we can control. ”

A climate of uncertainty

In the past year, with the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a lot of talk about athletes who experienced the postponement of the next Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The climate of uncertainty, however, undoubtedly also disturbs the preparation of those who aim to participate in the Winter Games in February 2022.

Instead of worrying needlessly, Justine Dufour-Lapointe strives to appreciate the little things, such as having had pain in the feet while putting on his ski boots for the first time in too long.

“For us not to ski for six months is totally abnormal,” she says, of the forced break before the recent training camp in Switzerland, from September 21 to October 10. It was weird at first. In today’s environment, I felt like I wasn’t meant to be there, but it felt good to get back to the lifestyle we’re used to. I’m just happy I was able to ski. It was a feeling of freedom. ”

Limited preparation

If the climatic conditions have limited Canadian skiers to only ten days of training on the slopes, Justine Dufour-Lapointe has seen fit to take the opportunity to go hiking in the mountains. Enjoy the trip and the beauty of the landscapes with his big sister Chloé.

“Everything we’ve been through lately has allowed us to reconnect with simple things, like nature,” she says.

Despite everything, we feel that Justine would have gladly taken a few more days on the slopes of Zermatt. Too much snow accumulation thwarted plans as did some windier days.

“At the moment, what is difficult is the little time we have to prepare for the season, agrees Justine, speaking of the first meeting of the World Cup at the beginning of December in Ruka, Finland. But don’t think about it to avoid being too anxious. It’s like the next Olympic Games. ”

– Off the slopes, Justine Dufour-Lapointe will be an ambassador, like her sisters Maxime and Chloé, for PROCURE and the Noeudvembre 2020 campaign. The movement aims to raise awareness of prostate cancer.

Chloé Dufour-Lapointe: a rekindled flame


Justine Dufour-Lapointe happy to finally have sore feet

File photo, Martin Chevalier

Like her little sister Justine, Chloé Dufour-Lapointe returned earlier this week from training camp for the Canadian freestyle ski team in Switzerland. She came back refreshed, revitalized, also convinced that she is making the right decision to continue her career until the Olympic Games in Beijing, in 2022.

“I want to have fun and participate in the next Games,” said the 28-year-old, who is aiming for a fourth Olympic appearance in the moguls.

In Zermatt, Switzerland, she got her skis back for the first time in over six months. It was a return to the snowy slopes, a contact with the mountains, but also with his new trainer Freddy Mooney.

“Before I worked mostly with Michel Hamelin and I still get along well with Michel, but I needed a change, I needed to hear new words,” she says. With Freddy, it gives a new flame to my ski. I’m happy, I opened a new chapter. “

A new flame, a bit like the one she could see in the Olympic cauldron, in China, in less than 16 months.

Healthy break

The COVID-19 pandemic is inevitably causing a period of uncertainty for many athletes. However, Chloé Dufour-Lapointe took the opportunity to proceed with a retrospection, or even an introspection.

“It’s funny to say, but it did me good the COVID, says the one who must currently respect a quarantine of 14 days. I needed to clear things up and the challenge is to have the time to do it. Whether I like it or not, my results have not been satisfactory in the past two years and it was necessary for me to stop and ask myself what I want. It was a good time for me to fall in love with my sport again. ”

www.journaldequebec.com

About Victoria Smith

Victoria Smith who hails from Toronto, Canada currently runs this news portofolio who completed Masters in Political science from University of Toronto. She started her career with BBC then relocated to TorontoStar as senior political reporter. She is caring and hardworking.

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