France's Kevin Aymoz balances Olympic aspirations with unexpected injury challenges

“The Olympics is a childhood dream that I want to fulfill,” French figure skater Kevin Aymoz admitted recently, making no secret of his big 2022 ambitions “I want to perform there.”

Over the past two years, Aymoz has been a medallist at some of figure skating's most prestigious events, including at home for the Internationaux de France, NHK Trophy in Japan, and - most notably - the 2019 ISU Grand Prix Final, where he shared the podium with three-time world champion Nathan Chen and two-time Olympic gold medallist Hanyu Yuzuru.

To culminate last season, Aymoz was ninth at the World Championships. Still just 24, the stylish Frenchman has emerged as one of the top skaters in the world.

The Grenoble native is now eager to raise the bar even higher.

For the 2021-2022 season Aymoz is not only aiming for a podium at the European Championships but has his eyes on a debut Olympic experience for the Winter Games Beijing 2022. And thanks to his constant creativity - and a fresh new free program - he can’t be underestimated despite an injury-disturbed summer.

Touching on career turning points, Olympic ambitions and publicly coming out as gay, France’s number-one men’s figure skater had much to say in an exclusive interview in French with Olympics.com, translated and transcribed below.

Aymoz: "It wasn't an easy summer at all"

Olympics.com: This year, Grenoble is hosting the Internationaux de France, your birth city. What are the emotions that come along with that?

Kevin Aymoz: I’m looking forward to it. I have dreamt about it a lot. The Internationaux de France, at home, just before the Winter Olympic Games, it’s just amazing.

Olympics.com: How do you feel, physically, after a summer disturbed by injury?

Aymoz: The pubalgia [chronic lesions of the groin] took time. It's the kind of injury that never happens at the right time. It was difficult to get past. At the start of my training camp I had to learn a million things again, in a short space of time. Now we're working hard on my conditioning so I can keep up the programs.

Day after day, we work on the technique.

[Aymoz suffered a further injury, to his toe, at Skate America in October, forcing him to withdraw from the event after the short program.]

Olympics.com: And how did those preparations go?

Aymoz: I had a bit of a catastrophic summer. If I remember it well, I was off [the ice] for almost three months. During that time I didn't skate at all. It was only physical preparation that I could do. I did a lot of physical therapy, a lot of rehab, and so there was very little training for me this summer.

Olympics.com: How is your state of mind after being injured at the beginning of an Olympic season?

Aymoz: I tried not to show it. I tried to smile and not be afraid, but there was panic under the surface. We know it's an important season. And the sooner you're ready, the better, so you can train as much as possible and perform well.

It wasn't an easy summer at all, but we put a lot of things in perspective to improve in training. Obviously, I would have preferred to have had two new programs for the beginning of the season and to come up with a lot of new things because it's one of my qualities. But this year, with the lack of training, it was difficult to create two new programs in such a short amount of time.

So we decided to use an old short program (Prince's "The Question of You") that had worked well and that I like. We're keeping the new stuff for the free program.

"A wave of love”

Olympics.com: You also made news this past summer by coming out in the French documentary Faut qu'on parle. How was the process of coming out about your sexuality in such a public way?

Aymoz: When the directors got in touch with me they asked if I wanted to be part of a project trying to help open the conversation about homosexuality in sport. For me, it seemed natural to say yes but I gave myself one or two days to think about it. Then I came back to them and agreed. They followed me for several months. We did a very long interview after a training session — we talked for three or four hours. They asked me a lot of questions and, at the end, I felt exhausted and empty.

As I told the directors: When I first came out, I had put a bandage on a wound. But now, with this documentary, talking about it publicly and freeing myself gave me the opportunity to remove that bandage and to let the wound breathe. And there’s no wound anymore. It was over. It made me feel good. And if it helped other people, it helps me feel better too.

Olympics.com: What feedback did you get from coming out this way?

Aymoz: The two directors did such an amazing job. They made this documentary with sweetness, gentleness and a lot of respect. Without voyeurism. That was really important in order to make it a useful documentary. I got 100 percent positive feedback about it and there was a wave of love around me. I got a lot of messages. I got thanks and testimonies… it warmed my heart.

After this documentary, a lot of little things were able to fall into place. It was really nice. At the beginning I was afraid — I was talking about myself on the screen. A week before the broadcast, I panicked a bit, wondering what was going to happen. But when it aired, I was glued to my TV because it was so beautiful. I just cried.

Could the Euro podium await?

Olympics.com: What are your major goals for this season?

Aymoz: It's the Olympic season of course but, personally, I have the European Championships [in January] in mind. For the last three years, I was close and around the podium but never on it. So this time I want to bring a medal home. It's important for me. I want to take personal revenge because, last time, I was the favourite and I finished sixth. I need to prove that I can get on this podium.

The Olympic Winter Games is a childhood dream that I want to fulfill too. I want to perform there. The goal is to get as close to the podium as possible. If I can manage to get on it, that would be great.

And the World Championships are in France, at home. So it's only happiness. I will have to give everything.

Olympics.com: The Beijing Winter Games are getting closer each day. Are they already on your mind?

Aymoz: It's a bit hard not to think about. My team tells me to prepare the season like a normal one. We want to go step by step. We know that we must prepare for Beijing 2022 but we must not turn the Olympic Games into a mountain. I admit that it's hard not to think about it — I even have a countdown set on my phone [laughs].

Olympics.com: The star ice dance duo Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron will also participate in the Internationaux de France. In your opinion, what have they brought to French figure skating?

Aymoz: It is not only to French figure skating that they brought something. They brought something to the whole world. There is a "before" and "after" them. They have their personality, their way of skating; they are extraordinary. For me, they are the best skaters in the world.

Who doesn't dream to skate like them? If I could have their skating skills, I would be super happy. They have been working so hard for years. They are above everybody, they always bring something new. I don't have a lot of role models or people inspiring me, but they are. I admire them a lot. They are simple, kind, they are great athletes. They deserve and must go for this gold medal in Beijing 2022. It is there for them.

"I was less than one point behind the Olympic champion”

Olympics.com: To secure the Olympic quota, you had to help to create and choreograph your own programs. How did you create this?

Aymoz: Last season was very complicated. I was away from my American team and it was hard because I couldn't go to [normal training base] Florida to do my programs. I didn't have anyone to rely on in France for that creative input. For four months before the start of the season, I was up against a wall. It was an emergency situation so I chose my music and made my programs on my own. The short program I liked worked very well, but a little less for the free program.

Since it was a big season with the Olympic qualification coming up, it was important to arrive at the World Championships ready with a program that worked. There wasn't much competition, so it was difficult to get it ready and train it with the right kind of feedback. I made the decision to go back to the previous year's free program because I knew it by heart and I had feedback on it already. I knew how many points I could expect [at worlds]. I kept the new short program because I've done it once in competition and everybody loved it. But for the free program the feedback was hard. You have to digest it and see it several times to understand it. There was no time, so we had to be strategic to ensure the quota.

Olympics.com: Finishing ninth at the World Championships confirmed an amazing 2019-2020 season for you. Do you think you took a step forward?

Aymoz: I didn't realise it right away. For the 2019-2020 season, I wasn't aiming in the Final at all. It just landed on me because you never know what can happen. At the first Grand Prix of the year, in Grenoble, I had finished the short program thinking I hadn't put one foot in front of the other. But I finished third in the end.

At the end of the season, I too part in the NHK Trophy in Japan. It was the last Grand Prix of the year, and I managed to qualify for the Final. I couldn't believe it and I went there without any pressure. I went in so calm that I did almost everything perfectly. After the short program, I was less than one point behind the two-time Olympic champion (Hanyu). I wasn't stressed and I had a great competition.

It was like a dream.

Sadly, the European Championships [in 2020] burst my confidence. Unlike the Grand Prix, I was fancied to do well and I didn't know who I was anymore. I discovered a whole new kind of stress. I didn't perform well at all. Later I surrounded myself with a psychologist and a mental trainer in order to manage all the stress and emotions. Being able to manage the stress was why I was able to gain the Olympic quota without doubts.