First Frenchwoman to win a race in the World Cup, the founder aims for a medal at the World Championships, in Planica (Slovenia), which start for her on Saturday with the skiathlon test.
By Laura Pottier
By evoking her little sister, Florence Claudel cannot hide her admiration and her pride: “I think she does not realize the scope she can have.” Delphine, 3 and a half years younger , became, on January 8, the first Frenchwoman to win a cross -country skiing World Cup stage. After a final climb of more than twenty minutes, with slopes reaching 30 %, it won at the top of the Alpe Certis, in Val di Fiemme (Italy). Before her, the best tricolor performance dates back to 2013, with the second place of Aurore Jean in free sprint, in Sochi (Russia).
Almost two months after this “great happiness”, the 26 -year -old founder already sees further. “It’s just a start, I want more,” she explains. Starting with a medal at the Worlds, which take place in Planica (Slovenia) until March 5. Skiathlon – Departure in classic style, changing skis halfway to finish in free style – February 25, and the 10 kilometers free, February 28, are its main objectives.
If she grew up in the Bresse mountains (Vosges), near the German border, cross -country skiing was far from obvious for Delphine Claudel. As a child, she is a little tomboy, likes to move and practical … athletics. It is only in college that she discovered cross -country skiing, thanks to friends. She then joined the Ski Section of the establishment and then the Lycée La Haie Griselle, in Gérardmer, for her hope center. Before settling in the Alps, where it is “more practical” to train and where she can continue her studies thanks to the Inter’Val system of the Grenoble Alpes University – she validated a license of Staps, which Form to the profession of sports teacher, in seven years, with an adapted calendar.
His parents, “not at all athletic”, leave him carte blanche. “We have never pose any conditions, we let her judge her performances, explains Michel, her father. Since she was little, we trust her.” Very quickly, Delphine Claudel shows her determination and assurance. Among the Minimes, before his first meeting against French gratin, her father warns her that victory is uncertain. “She answered me from the tac to the tac:” If my trainer takes me there, it’s to win, “he says. And she won.”
“extremely Perfectionist “
This strength of character allows him to climb the ladder “not after step, walking after walking”, explains Thibaut Chêne, who accompanied him for eight years as a coach of the French women’s team. “Each season is better than the one before. I have a linear progression,” says the Vosgienne. Their collaboration ended after the 2022 Olympic Games, in Beijing, and a bitter seventh place on the 30 kilometers free. “We were both proud and disappointed, remembers Thibaut Chêne. We cried together. It was the quintessence of all these years.”
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