Tess Ledeux: France's freestyle skiing champion who channels "positive stress" in her quest for excellence

"Since I was a little girl, I always knew I wanted to be a professional skier," Tess Ledeux explained in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com on the day of her 20th birthday.

At the very least, you could say that the young French freestyle skiing star has shown her determination from a very young age.

To get a better picture of the breadth of Ledeux’s talent, it’s important to remember that at only 20 years old, she is already a two-time world champion (slopestyle in 2017 and Big Air in 2019), the 2021 overall world champion and has won eight World Cups plus the Big Air event at the Winter X Games 2020. Not bad for an athlete most would consider to be at the beginning of her career.

“I immediately committed myself and trained hard from the beginning. It’s true that everything started at a young age. I joined the French team at age 14 and was caught in between sport as a passion and sport as a profession, but it all happened in quite a serene way.”

Although her transition to the world of elite sport took place “quietly”, the journey hasn’t always been easy for the athlete from La Plagne. In the midst of her success, a 15th place finish at the PyeongChang 2018 Games left a bitter taste in her mouth.

But Ledeux is a warrior who can find positivity in any situation and is always trying to find ways to improve in order to one day fulfil her dream of standing on the top of an Olympic podium.

The athlete spoke to Olympics.com about the techniques she uses to control stress, her Olympic experience and her ambitions for Beijing 2022.

Using organisation to harness the power of stress

“I’m a person who gets very stressed in my everyday life; both in my personal life and my professional life. Everything freaks me out a bit and so, since I was young, competitions have been stressful and quite frightening for me.”

In sport, stress can produce one of two reactions. The rush of adrenaline either helps you do incredible things or it paralyses you completely. Tess Ledeux’s “pretty much positive stress” helps her to push her limits.

However, it isn’t always the easiest task to harness the positivity of stress. “As soon as I found myself on top in my first competition it became very complicated to manage and the pressure went to another level,” she explained.

In order to stop herself from becoming overwhelmed, the double world champion has put in place rituals that establish points of reference and allow her to compete in a calmer manner.

“I like things to be very organised. I need to know exactly what I’m going to wear from head to toe the night before. I don’t like being in a situation that I don’t have control of.”

On top of the normal stress athletes feel before competitions, Ledeux has had to learn to deal with pressure from the media - something she felt from a very early age.

“I went from being nobody to someone who was a potential medallist at big competitions, so it wasn’t easy. But it’s something I’ve learned to deal with over time and become better at.”

Becoming one of the best athletes in the world at such a young age has given the athlete an incredible level of experience and maturity, which will be an undeniable asset at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

“Today I am 20 years old and I have a lot of experience," she explained. "I have more than five years in elite sports and have already been to some big competitions. I have already faced some hard blows in competitions… some incredible blows… but they have helped me to grow and evolve. I think of it as more of an asset.”

Learning from failure

It is a long-held belief of many that we learn more from failures than victories. Ledeux experienced this first-hand during the PyeongChang 2018 Games.

The then 16-year-old, already a slopestyle world champion, arrived in the Republic of Korea as one of the favourites for gold. However, things didn’t turn out the way she wanted.

"My Olympic experience in PyeongChang wasn't amazing. It was far below my expectations. I went there with a lot of dreams and everything came crashing down. I really wanted it to work and I had never really experienced failure before in my career. It was the first real blow I had experienced and it was difficult to come back from.”

In the qualifying round, Ledeux fell on her second run and didn’t make it to the final, finishing 15th in an event won by Switzerland's Sarah Hoefflin.

"Today, I don't have fabulous memories [of PyeongChang 2018], but it was still a very important part of my career. I know that if I hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be the skier I am today.”

Two chances to medal at Beijing 2022

Since PyeongChang 2018, Ledeux has continued her rise to the top of the world of freestyle skiing. Having experienced so much, she is now approaching Beijing 2022 with a mixture of calm and excitement.

"Her skiing is strong and stable," Switzerland's Mathilde Gremaud, the PyeongChang 20218 slopestyle silver medallist, says of Ledeux. "On the jumps, not much can disturb her. During high-stakes competitions, she's always there."

And this year, for the first time in Olympic history the Big Air event has been included on the Olympic programme. For Ledeux, who excels in Big air, the addition is a godsend.

“It’s true that the inclusion of Big Air at the Olympics has taken the pressure off, because now you have two chances and that’s just great. Plus, I love Big Air as it’s such a different feeling from slopestyle.”

Even though she has carried her excellent form into the Olympic season, with first and second-place finishes in Big Air in Chur, Switzerland and Steamboat, USA, Ledeux remains modest when talking about her ambitions in Beijing 2022.

"To come back satisfied from Beijing, I have to be able to put everything that I am working on in place. I’ve had some good seasons and I feel good right now. I know that I have the ability to win a medal but there are so many things separating me from the medal. I try to focus on the things I can master: my technique and my skiing. And then what is supposed to happen will happen… or not!”

To put the balance in her favour, particularly taking into account the rise of other stars such as Ailing (Eileen) Gu, the 18-year-old Chinese skier with a background not unlike Ledeux’s own, the young French athlete is working on new tricks she hopes will make the difference on the Olympic slopes.

“I’m working on tricks that are a little more technical, things that will help me do well this winter… but it’s still a secret right now!” she concluded, with a smile on her face.

The women’s Big Air competition at Beijing 2022 will take place from 7-8 February with the slopestyle competition taking place from 13-14 February.