Mathilde Gremaud is the measure of all things slopestyle. But at her home World Championships in the Engadin, the Fribourg native considers herself lucky to have even qualified for the final. What's behind it all?
19.03.2025, 16:59
19.03.2025, 17:09
SDA
As Olympic and world champion, Mathilde Gremaud is on paper the biggest Swiss trump card at the Freestyle World Championships in and around St. Moritz. Since the 25-year-old won gold in slopestyle and bronze in big air at the Olympic Games in Beijing three years ago, she has competed 17 times in the World Cup. She has won eight times, climbed the podium 13 times and only missed out on the top 3 four times.
On Wednesday, Gremaud had her first outing at her home World Championships. In third place, she qualified for the final of the top twelve on Saturday with what looked like aplomb. But Gremaud's words were tinged with unusual doubts. "I was super nervous before the first run, more nervous than I've been in ten years," she said.
Gremaud promptly crashed and was under corresponding pressure in the second run. With slightly less difficult tricks, it finally worked out. "By being here and being able to compete in a final in front of my home crowd, I've already achieved a big goal," said Gremaud. She had a very good training day on Tuesday, "but I didn't have one hundred percent confidence yet".
Weeks of doing nothing
The reason for her lack of confidence is simple. An injury forced Gremaud to do nothing for weeks until shortly before the World Championships. When she took time out after finishing 3rd at the Laax Open and decided not to make the trip to North America, she injured herself while free skiing. It has now been two months since her last competition.
The fact that Gremaud injured herself in her free time is not without a certain irony. She enjoys competing and finds it harder to give it up than other top athletes such as Eileen Gu, she says. Things like freeriding, for which she would like to have more time, are therefore neglected.
Gremaud has only allowed herself to take breaks from competitions of her own free will, such as after the Laax Open, since her body sent her clear signals three years ago. Back then, Gremaud fell into a mental hole at the Olympic Games in Beijing after winning bronze in the Big Air. She was exhausted at the end of the season, but still went to (too) many sponsor appointments and other commitments - "because I used to find it hard to say no", says Gremaud. That took its revenge. The hard way, her body and mind made her pay attention to her inner balance. "Now I've found the right approach," she says.
In search of the feeling
Gremaud is keeping the nature of her injury in recent weeks to herself. What is known is that she only returned to normal training a few days ago. Accordingly, she dampened her expectations for the home World Championships. She has question marks, she said on Monday. "I will be at the start. The question is what level I'm at." She needs to find the feeling again, the confidence is still a little lacking, said the Swiss freestyle queen.
The mishap in her free time turned the World Championships into a race against time for Gremaud. She had not been able to do much for several weeks and it was not certain whether she would be fit again in time, Gremaud explained. Although a home World Championships is "of course something unique", she didn't want to force anything. After all, she wants to be competitive when she competes - and she is also thinking about the day after tomorrow: "I want to have a long career. So, as always: no unnecessary risks."
Four competitors less
As she showed in the second round of qualifying on Wednesday, Gremaud has won the race against time. Although she still lacked the final conviction, her repertoire of tricks means that she is undoubtedly one of the top favorites at the World Championships on Saturday. Especially as there are prominent absentees and Sarah Höfflin, the second Swiss medal contender, failed to qualify.
Eileen Gu is not the only big figure on the scene missing from the Engadin. France's Tess Ledeux, 2017 Slopestyle World Champion and two-time World Champion in Big Air (2019, 2023) and Kelly Sildaru, the 2022 Olympic bronze medallist, will also miss the title fights due to injury.
