She was worried about her participation until shortly before the World Championships due to a concussion. She arrives in the Engadin unsure of herself, is unusually nervous - and once again becomes world champion: Mathilde Gremaud.
21.03.2025, 18:55
21.03.2025, 19:07
SDA
Of course, Mathilde Gremaud benefited from the absence of some of her toughest competitors on the fearsomely large jumps and rails on Corvatsch on Friday. Eileen Gu, Tess Ledeux and Kelly Sildaru were all absent due to injury. But Mathilde Gremaud was also not in the best of shape. She too, the defending champion, had doubts about her participation until shortly before the start of the World Championships. She had also injured herself in the run-up to the event. But she got fit again at the last minute.
Gremaud had left open what she was suffering from before the competition. It happened in February while she was free riding during her competition break. She had been forced to do nothing for weeks. She will be at the start but does not know what level she is at, she said. After her superior triumph, she now provided clarity: it was a concussion.
More than just pain
The whole thing was delicate. "Pelvic pain after a fall is part of it. Neck and head injuries, on the other hand, are very tricky, especially as it wasn't my first injury of this kind. Every other one is dangerous, and the older you get, the more so. You had to be careful. The fear of a second 'impact' held me back for a long time," explained Gremaud. It only got better from last week onwards and only now has she been able to ride freely again.
Instead of preparing ideally for the home World Championships during her break from competition, the last few weeks turned into a race against time. A race to a standstill, so to speak, because the concussion was reverberating and there was no way she was going to get another one. "Until recently, I was able to do very little - no snow training. It was mainly a case of waiting and recovering. I had to pay close attention to the body's signals. They dictated what I could and couldn't do," says Gremaud. It wasn't much, "but at least I was able to go to the gym".
Only one is at eye level
The last five weeks have been "extremely difficult" and "full of ups and downs". The return to the skis was also complicated in the week before the slopestyle. Three snow days were planned and she was able to do one. "But as soon as I was in the Engadin, it got better day by day." Step by step, she was able to build up her confidence again, says Gremaud. "I managed to focus on what was within my power. Without my good environment and the right expertise, this success would not have been possible."
The superior success under these difficult circumstances underpins Gremaud's exceptional qualities. In the entire freeskiing scene, there is only one woman who can hold a candle to Gremaud with her repertoire of tricks: Eileen Gu from China, who grew up and lives in the USA, who won gold in the halfpipe and big air at the last Olympic Games and had to settle for silver behind Gremaud in slopestyle. With a view to the 2026 Olympic Games, an exciting duel is on the horizon. Both are in the process of raising their level once again before the next big milestone.
"Another 4th place" for Ragettli
Gremaud's triumph at the home World Championships is the good outcome that Andri Ragettli was denied in front of his home crowd. As at the 2022 Olympic Games and more recently in the World Cup, the man from Graubünden had to make do with first place next to the winners' podium. "Another 4th place, the fourth time this season. That's upsetting and annoying...", said Ragettli angrily.
But he actually had nothing to criticize about his performance. With a strong first run, he had pushed himself to the top as the qualifying winner. He stayed there until three of his last four competitors robbed him of his well-deserved reward.
Ragettli was naturally annoyed. But the pain was less than three years ago at the Winter Games in China. He has already been world champion since 2021, but an Olympic medal is still missing from his lavish trophy cabinet. In 2026 in northern Italy, the gap is to be closed at the third attempt - that is the big goal.
