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„I already feel somewhat retired!“
It will be one last competition for World Cup retiree Sebastian Lacroix at the French national Championships in Chaux-Neuve this upcoming weekend. Right before, he looks back on his career and his very fast approaching plans for the future in this latest edition of TUESDAY TALK!
Sebastien, your last Nordic Combined competition ever is coming up with the French nationals this weekend. What is your state of mind, 5 days before?
Sebastien Lacroix: It’s all good. I already feel somewhat retired! (laughs) I go to Chaux-Neuve for the pleasure only and not to chase after results. I have only skied once since the World Cup finals in Oslo. For me, it’s more about the fun, to have one last competition at a place that is important to me and that has given me a lot of emotions. It’s the ideal place to close the circle.
Don’t get me wrong, I will fight to the maximum in the competition and Jason will probably be in the same mindset as me. Maxime and Francois are in shape at the moment and the young French athletes also want to show what they can do, so it will be a fight, for sure.
Last Thursday, a reception in your and Jason Lamy Chappuis’s honour was held in Premanon. It was quite an emotional event with different hommages paid to you. Which feeling prevails at this point when you are about to turn the page after a decade of performing sports on an elite level?
Lacroix: We spent a wonderful evening at Premanon with a lot of emotions, many people who helped us during our careers, the coaches and staff and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s is a weird feeling at the moment. When I was skiing yesterday, I thought about it: "I am actually skiing the last time ever to prepare for a competition." Everything I did in the past ten years always revolved around a competition. It is suddenly hard to imagine a life without that, the unknown that lies ahead. It will take some time.
Looking back on your career, you had some great successes with the gold medals in Val di Fiemme but also frustrating experiences like the 4th of 5th places in the team events at other title events. Which moments of these years together with Maxime, Jason and Francois will stay with you the most?
Lacroix: There are a lot of things, also beyond the years together with those three. I will always remember my first World Cup start in Liberec in 2001 together with Sylvain Guillaume. It was his retirement and the start of my career. It is an important and powerful moment for me.
There are also a lot of memories with Max and the others. It was being in this group that made us improve individually. The strength of Nordic Combined in France is the positive and constructive mindset that helped all of us move forward together…. to those medals.
Your career has also not always been easy sailing with the difficult times you had to go through at the World Championships in Liberec in 2009, for example. What has ultimately motivated you to hang on to it, to fight for your place and to keep pushing for better results?
Lacroix: I continued because I was utterly convinced that I was better than that, that I had the ability to compete with the best. Between 2005 and 2008, when I was not having a good time, I clung to the idea. I could not stop without giving the maximum. It might also have been my personal pride that drove me because I was good during my junior years.
Next to that, my family and environment helped me enormously. Lacroix Emballages and the Franche-Comté cross-country skiing group were decisive factors in those difficult moments and I cannot thank them enough for being there.
What are your plans for the future now?
Lacroix: My plans for the future will be happening quite quickly now, actually. Next Tuesday, I am leaving for La Rochelle and the School of Customs after having passed my entry examination for it in the winter. From April 1st, I will be training to become a part of the motorized customs unit, just as Sylvain did. I have a passion for motorbikes and if I can combine that passion with my job, it would be really great.
But I will also keep the ties to the Nordic community, for sure, because I love this sport. I may be a consultant for Eurosport in the future. I also would like to get involved in the Ski Club in Bois d’Amont, that is something really near and dear to my heart. And of course I want to enjoy family life, too.
Sebastien, your last Nordic Combined competition ever is coming up with the French nationals this weekend. What is your state of mind, 5 days before?
Sebastien Lacroix: It’s all good. I already feel somewhat retired! (laughs) I go to Chaux-Neuve for the pleasure only and not to chase after results. I have only skied once since the World Cup finals in Oslo. For me, it’s more about the fun, to have one last competition at a place that is important to me and that has given me a lot of emotions. It’s the ideal place to close the circle.
Don’t get me wrong, I will fight to the maximum in the competition and Jason will probably be in the same mindset as me. Maxime and Francois are in shape at the moment and the young French athletes also want to show what they can do, so it will be a fight, for sure.
Last Thursday, a reception in your and Jason Lamy Chappuis’s honour was held in Premanon. It was quite an emotional event with different hommages paid to you. Which feeling prevails at this point when you are about to turn the page after a decade of performing sports on an elite level?
Lacroix: We spent a wonderful evening at Premanon with a lot of emotions, many people who helped us during our careers, the coaches and staff and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s is a weird feeling at the moment. When I was skiing yesterday, I thought about it: "I am actually skiing the last time ever to prepare for a competition." Everything I did in the past ten years always revolved around a competition. It is suddenly hard to imagine a life without that, the unknown that lies ahead. It will take some time.
Looking back on your career, you had some great successes with the gold medals in Val di Fiemme but also frustrating experiences like the 4th of 5th places in the team events at other title events. Which moments of these years together with Maxime, Jason and Francois will stay with you the most?
Lacroix: There are a lot of things, also beyond the years together with those three. I will always remember my first World Cup start in Liberec in 2001 together with Sylvain Guillaume. It was his retirement and the start of my career. It is an important and powerful moment for me.
There are also a lot of memories with Max and the others. It was being in this group that made us improve individually. The strength of Nordic Combined in France is the positive and constructive mindset that helped all of us move forward together…. to those medals.
Your career has also not always been easy sailing with the difficult times you had to go through at the World Championships in Liberec in 2009, for example. What has ultimately motivated you to hang on to it, to fight for your place and to keep pushing for better results?
Lacroix: I continued because I was utterly convinced that I was better than that, that I had the ability to compete with the best. Between 2005 and 2008, when I was not having a good time, I clung to the idea. I could not stop without giving the maximum. It might also have been my personal pride that drove me because I was good during my junior years.
Next to that, my family and environment helped me enormously. Lacroix Emballages and the Franche-Comté cross-country skiing group were decisive factors in those difficult moments and I cannot thank them enough for being there.
What are your plans for the future now?
Lacroix: My plans for the future will be happening quite quickly now, actually. Next Tuesday, I am leaving for La Rochelle and the School of Customs after having passed my entry examination for it in the winter. From April 1st, I will be training to become a part of the motorized customs unit, just as Sylvain did. I have a passion for motorbikes and if I can combine that passion with my job, it would be really great.
But I will also keep the ties to the Nordic community, for sure, because I love this sport. I may be a consultant for Eurosport in the future. I also would like to get involved in the Ski Club in Bois d’Amont, that is something really near and dear to my heart. And of course I want to enjoy family life, too.
Source: fis-ski.com
