TT - Jason Lamy Chappuis:
"I like competitions with a lot of pressure!"
Triple overall winner, Olympic champion, multiple
World Champion, flag-bearer: Nordic Combined superstar
Jason Lamy Chappuis has achieved what others only
dream of, still he is as hungry for success as ever.
In this edition of TUESDAY TALK, the Frenchman explains
why he can go for more Gold in Sochi, how his experiences
as an advertising testimonial have been and how
he experienced being named the French flag-bearer
for the Sochi opening ceremony!
After you have been named flag-bearer for the French
team for Sochi2014, you were probably really busy
with the huge public interest. Can you tell us a
bit how you experienced the process and how high
the media attention is now?
Jason Lamy Chappuis: There was a big presentation
on October 14th in Paris with all the athletes from
ski and ice sports federations. The Sports Minister
and a lot of other Olympic champions were there.
We were three athletes on a short list (Brian Joubert,
figure skating, Ophe'lie David, Skicross, and me)
and it was a stressful waiting until they opened
the envelope... with my name on it!! It was a great
honor, for me but also for my sport! After that,
I had two or three weeks with a lot of media attention,
so I gave a lot of interviews but I still managed
to train pretty well.
On top of that, you also participated in P&G's
"Thank you mum" campaign together with
you mother. How was it to be able to share some
of your "daily" work with her?
Lamy Chappuis: Yes, it was nice to participate in
the campaign with my mom, we had a couple of photo
and video shootings and it was great to spend some
time with her and thank her for always being by
my side. I think it's a beautiful and emotional
campaign. I was aware of it because I saw the videos
for the 2012 Olympics and loved it!
Does winning three gold medals at the World Championships
last season take some of the stress away or do you
feel the pressure to be successful as intensely
as before?
Lamy Chappuis: There is always more pressure on
you in an Olympic year. First it takes place only
once very four years, and it's a big goal in a career
because it's such a global event. It certainly helps
to know that I've already been successful in important
events. I know how to be ready physically and mentally,
but everything can happen in a one-day competition
and a lot of guys can claim a medal.
But what about you? Why do you have a good chance
to take another gold in Sochi? What is it that you
are able to do better than the competition?
Lamy Chappuis: I like competitions with a lot of
pressure. The most important thing is to use the
pressure positively. What I do is to stay really
focused on what I have to do. I try to give my best
and only after that I watch the results. If someone
was better that day but I still have given my best,
I have no regrets.
Back to the preparations for Sochi: With the facilities
in Chaux-Neuve being equipped for summer jumping
for the first time this year, how would you say
has your training been affected?
Lamy Chappuis: The summer equipment in Chaux-Neuve
made it a lot easier for us to train. We were able
to stay home more often and jump on a more regular
basis. We also jumped on an ice track a whole month
before leaving for Scandinavia, so that helped a
lot too!
How will you spend the rest of the (short) time
until the season starts now?
Lamy Chappuis: Currently, we are in Lillehammer.
Unfortunately, the hill is not ready yet but we
have good skiing conditions in Sjusj?en. We will
stay here until the 26th of November and leave directly
for Kuusamo. I hope we will be able to jump a couple
of sessions before Kuusamo, because it would be
hard to do our first jumps on snow directly on Kuusamo's
big hill.
