Freestyle skiing-Ledeux upbeat ahead of inaugural freeski Big Air event

Mar 16, 2021; Aspen, Colorado, USA; Tess Ledeux of France competes during the finals of Freeski Big Air at the 2021 FIS Aspen Snowboard & Freeski World Championships. Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports

BEIJING, Feb 6 (Reuters) – French favourite Tess Ledeux is feeling physically and mentally ready for the first-ever Olympics freeski Big Air competitions.

Jut weeks after a stunning performance at X Games 2022, where Ledeux became the first female skier to launch a double cork 1620, the 20-year-old is aiming for gold in Beijing but said she was trying not to let the pressure weigh her down.

“I try to tell myself that the Olympics is a new competition where anything can happen, that there is this new blank page to write, and for everyone,” Ledeux told reporters on Saturday.

“The main goal, above all, above the results etc, is to keep smiling and enjoy it and, for the moment, that’s exactly what’s happening and I’m actually full of positivity.”

To win the first freeski Big Air Olympic gold, Ledeux must overcome competition from China’s national darling Eileen Gu, who outperformed her in the Steamboat World Cup last year.

She said her training in the new Big Air Shougang stadium, the world’s first permanent venue for such competition, is going well as she prepares for the qualifying starting Monday.

Leading up to the Games, she has had a stellar season with Big Air championships in Chur, Switzerland and X Games, which boosted her confidence.

“It proved to me that I was in good shape, that I was competitive, but anything can happen. I try to only concentrate on what I have to do technically,” she said.

Beijing marks Ledeux’s second Olympics. At Pyeongchang 2018, she was considered a medal contender in slopestyle but failed to reach the final after falling on her second run in qualifying.

“I didn’t feel 100%, I was very doubtful,” Ledeux said of her performance then. “Today … I feel a little more calm, I feel a little stronger to face it all, and I just feel happy.”

Reporting by Krystal Hu and Yiming Woo; Editing by Ken Ferris

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