“I arrive with confidence”

Steven, how did your preparation go?

“The feelings are good. We had two beautiful days on the face last week, with different snow conditions twice, so it was interesting to ski a bit in all these forms. And I did some good training on the Face. It's a track on which I feel good. I often do good workouts on it. I'm pretty fast. I'm also starting to ski more and more, so I'm getting to know more and more, namely the parts that are challenging, the parts that are controlled a little more, and the parts where you really have to let go hard to gain a lot of momentum. speed. So it was really two great days to really get your bearings (last week, editor's note). And then, we also had two great days in Courchevel, at the stadium. It's a slope that can get really close to what you can find on the Face, so it's super interesting to really prepare for Sunday. We had snow conditions that were really close to the race. »

After Levi and Gurgl, are you arriving with full confidence?

“Yes, I arrive with confidence, it’s true, that helps too. When we have confidence, we are also more free on the skis, so we can also do things that we didn't necessarily have to do before. It's true that it's always better to arrive having achieved good results than having done nothing, so I'm quite positive and calm about that, even if I know that that's not everything, we will still have to give 100% and draw on the resources to really give everything on Sunday. »

Val d'Isère is a special place with the presence of your loved ones at the foot of the slope, right?

“Yes, it adds a good extra soul, it’s cool. I love running in France and in front of the French public, it gives me a lot more motivation and energy than it puts pressure on me, it boosts me, it will also be the first time that I will run in front of my fan club , which is traveling for the first time in competition, was created last year. They took 120 places at the bottom of the Face, so I think it will make a bit of noise, and it puts me in a good position to show them what I do every weekend, and try to show them again better. When I'm in the starting hut, it's just me, but the rest of the day, it's always nice to feel supported, and making people happy is the very essence of the sport of high level, so I'm looking forward to Sunday for that. »

Do you believe in this first podium for Sunday?

“That’s the goal for all races. Afterwards I don't put myself in a state of mind to say the podium or nothing. I want to do my best skiing over two runs, because I didn't necessarily manage to do the first two races. Although I had good results, I wasn't able to fully ski both runs each time, so that's the main goal. If I get there I won't be far away. »