Victim of a heavy fall this Saturday on the giant of Val d'Isère, Clément Noël had to give up starting this Sunday for the slalom. Hit in the right ankle, the slalom rider explained to the media the reasons for his last minute withdrawal.
Clément, how was the morning before giving up on the slalom this Sunday?
“When I got up it was pretty much okay, the ankle had continued to swell a little bit. Afterwards, it's not really very swollen, but I knew it wasn't going to be obvious. I had already tried the shoe last night, it wasn't easy. I tried again this morning, I said to myself, maybe there's a chance, because I didn't feel bad in the shoe. It's just that skiing still requires quite a few constraints, you have the impression that the ankle is like a splint, but when I came to put pressure on my foot, I didn't dare at all. I couldn't press because it hurt. I skated to the warm-up track, I knew it was going to be hot. I tried to warm up a little and set off on the track, and then I immediately knew that it wasn't possible. »
Do you regret starting?
“It’s easy in hindsight to say I shouldn’t have done it. Yes, it's certain that I had a much better chance of getting a result today than yesterday, but I think that as a giant, I've been skiing not too bad lately. I felt good on my skis, with the confidence I had from the slalom (two victories in two races), for me it was a wise choice. So, from there, if there is thought behind it and it is wise, there is no regret for having done the giant thing. Now we know that it's skiing, it's risky. When you take all the risks to do a decent round, there is inevitably a risk of falling. I'm doing well, I'm not too hurt, it could have been worse, so we avoided the worst. Afterwards, I'm not going to do a giant again straight away, I'm already going to put my ankle back together and do slalom, because that's where I'm in better shape. »
So the objective is to come back for the next slalom at Alta Badia, on December 23?
“I think I need to do additional tests tomorrow. I did an X-ray and an ultrasound, I'm going to do an MRI again to see if everything is in place, but I don't see too many problems in doing Alta Badia. I have less pain than yesterday, I limp a little when walking, but it's light. We'll see how it evolves. But the objective is to be there, I think it's reasonable. »
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“One of the hardest falls I have had”
Immediately after the fall, were you afraid it would be more serious?
“A little bit, I don’t get injured often, so I don’t really know. I immediately felt that the ankle was average in the shoe, as soon as I got up. We looked on the track to see if it wasn't broken, but I was still able to move, it was quite reassuring. But I told myself with the adrenaline, when hot, I don't feel much. In the end I still came out well, more fear than harm I think. Plus, I don't fall very often, it's one of the hardest falls I've had. »
And then there were front teeth that were affected…
“Yes, direct discounts, they were super efficient. They redid my teeth directly the same day. By 2 p.m., I think it was already fixed. It's just aesthetics, but it's also a bit practical on the teeth, so if I wanted to race properly today, I had to feel good. »
