Carole Montillet the fighter

Cortina d'Ampezzo, Jan. 14th - After a series of disappointing results in Super-G, Carole Montillet fought back in Cortina d'Ampezzo second race - missing the podium by only a few hundredths. She hopes to be able to find back soon her best form - but she has a hard time to get really going this winter!

“What I think about my Super-G skiing so far is also valid for my downhill,” she said” after the race. “I don't feel free, and this is really a frustrating feeling. Last year, I was skiing the same way, but I was not as stressed as now! I don't have much feeling on snow for the moment. That's why I'm using so much aggressiveness instead. But I see that I'm not there. It's not so easy to handle, especially right before a downhill. Sometimes, I'm wondering and telling myself «what are you waiting for to dominate again?”

“Last summer and this autumn, I was quite confident during my training. But I now do see that I put myself under great pressure, as if the outside pressure isn't hard enough! I really had a hard time in Lake Louise. Just before getting there, I gave a couple of interviews to explain how much I like this race and how confident I was, and telling about the great results I wanted to achieved.”
”When I got there, I completely blew out the training runs. I had to violent myself to achieve good the races. And then people ask me «why are you only 2nd and 3rd ?” It hurts so much. You could see that people don't follow me properly and start to judge me. Maybe, they believe that our own judgment is not good enough!”

To ski with pleasure!

“I have to ski with much joy and be very relaxed. I can't believe that I feel so vulnerable at my age, since I don't have anything to prove anymore. I'm discovering that the pressure really never ends. I don't know how the other girls hand le this? When the spring is broken, it's really difficult to fix it again. It's a pity because when I really think about it, my ski is definitely there. When I'm natural, everything goes well - by itself!” “I'm enjoying what I'm doing because I like to fight and take risks. But still, I can see that I lost most part of my smoothness. I have to keep on saying to me that I'm proud about myself. I'm tired of this situation. The lot from me, without understanding why I'm not having better results.”

“When I think at girls like Daniela Ceccarelli, I'm feeling really sad. Though, I'm not in the same position that she is. She finished 44th in today's race, and she has not been able to repeat what she did at the Olympic Games. I don't think that I could handle such a situation. I was pretty lucky because I could follow a good path after Salt Lake City.”

“I have to succeed, but people are not able to really appraise what you are doing. In France, the audience and the media are too demanding. But in such a moment, we should see that ski racing is not so important. With the tragedy with hit South Asia, we have to open our eyes and realise that we are not alone. The skiers are living in such a closed world! I think that it would be the right time to take some distances and learn every day a little bit more on ourselves.”

Manuèle LANG