PSWC 2015

July 17-19, PARIS

SENIOR SPEED SLALOM 

Speed Slalom Men

The top-26 of the Senior Men category was under the 5 seconds in their qualifications runs. The current World Champion, Savio Brivio (Ita, #3) showed the best qualification time of the event with 4,276 sec, and went to the big final. The world number 4, Simone Nai Oleari (Ita) made the second best time with 4,297 sec but finished only at the 9th position this year. Representative of Brazil, Diego De Araujo (#15) performed a 4,449 sec run during the qualification and completed the TOP 10 of the event.

Last year’s favorites, the Fort Brothers, Yohan (Fra, #11) and Jimmy (Fra, #2), finished at the 5th and 4th places respectively. Following his unbreakable tradition of winning one competition every two years, Yohan finished the speed slalom challenge at one step away from the final.

His little brother, the current world number two Jimmy, went to the small final, where he met a very experienced skater from Italy, Tiziano Ferrari (#16). Tiziano won two runs of three and got the third place of the consolation final. It was a huge big up for him (last time he won the Speed Slalom at the PSWC in 2009 and he was second in 2010).

The World Champion 2014, Savio Brivio (Ita, #3) met in the final the outsider of this event, French Raphael Giron (Fra, #78), for whom the best result ever was a second place at a French Championship! Step by step he kicked out all his opponents and faced Savio in the final, where Raphael won both runs and got the victory! Savio improved his last year’s result from the 8th place to 2nd!

MEN'S FINAL TOP 10

1. Raphael Giron (Fra)

2. Savio Brivio (Ita)

3. Tiziano Ferrari (Ita)

4. Jimmy Fort (Fra)

5. Yohan Fort (Fra)

6. Lorenzo Guslandi (Ita)

7. Matheus Borges Rezende (Esp)

8. Matteo Allegrini (Ita)

9. Simone Nai Oleari (Ita)

10. Diego De Araujo (Bra)

P.S. It’s your best result so far, did you expect this result ? What did you plan for the event ?

R.G. No, I didn’t expect this result, my objective was to get qualified and then go as far as possible.

P.S. C’est ton meilleur résultat jusqu’à présent. Est ce que tu t’attendais à ce résultat ? Qu’est ce que tu avais prévu ?

R.G. Non, je ne m’attendais pas à ce résultat, mon objectif était de me qualifier et ensuite d’aller le plus loin possible.

P.S. What did you feel when you climbed on the first step of the podium ?

R.G. When I climbed on the podium, I still couldn’t realise that I was 1st. I was really impressed by all the pictures that were taken, and all these people looking at me ! But I was also very happy to see the French Team applauding me, I felt very proud to be representing France, and very honoured to hold the cup.

P.S. Qu’est ce que tu as ressenti en montant sur la première marche du podium ?

R.G. Lorsque je suis monté sur le podium, je ne réalisais toujours pas que j’étais 1er, j’étais impressionné par toutes les photos et le monde qui me regardait ! Mais j’étais aussi très heureux de voir la Team France m’applaudir, fier de représenter la France et honoré de soulever la coupe.

P.S. Who did you considered as your strongest opponent?

R.G. My strongest opponent was Savio, but I was too happy having ended up so far in the competition that I felt no stress at all. I think it gave me some advantage over him.

P.S. Qui considérais-tu comme ton adversaire le plus fort/dangereux ?

R.G. Mon adversaire le plus fort était Savio, mais j’étais déjà très heureux d’en être arrivé à ce stade de la compétition, je ne ressentais aucun stress. C’est ce qui m’a donné un avantage je pense.

P.S. What was your best result before PSWC?

R.G. I was 2nd at the French Championship.

P.S. Qu’est ce qui était ton meilleur résultat avant la PSWC ?

R.G. J’ai déjà fini 2ème à un championnat de France.

P.S. Do you train a lot ? About how many hours a week ? Can you describe us your typical training session?

R.G. I train twice a week, for about 1h30. My coach times me and we try to improve my performances.

P.S. Est-ce que tu t’entraines beaucoup ? A peu près combien d’heures par semaine ? Peux tu nous décrire une journée d’entrainement typique ?

R.G. Je m’entraine deux fois par semaine, pendant 1h30. Je me fais chronométrer par mon coach et on essaie d’améliorer mes temps.

P.S. What did you plan for the 2015 season ? In which competitions do you expect to take part ? To which events do you dream to go ?

R.G. For this season, I plan to train more so that I can participate to the European and the World Championships.

P.S. Qu’est ce que tu as prévu pour cette saison 2015 ? A quelles compétitions as-tu prévu de participer ? Quels évènements te font rêver ?

R.G. Pour cette saison 2015, je prévois de m’entrainer plus, afin de participer aux championnats d’Europe et du Monde.

P.S. To end this interview, do you want to say a last word ? Anyone you’d like to thank ?

R.G. I’d like to thank Pierre Célat who believed in me and allowed me to participate to PSWC, and the whole French Team who supported me all along the competition.

P.S. Pour finir cette interview, est-ce que tu as un dernier mot ? Des personnes à remercier ?

R.G. Je tiens à remercier Pierre Célat qui a cru en moi et m’a permis de participer à la PSWC et toute la Team France qui m’a soutenue tout au long de la compétition.

Speed Slalom Women

28 skaters were participating in the Speed Slalom Senior Women category. The favorite of this category, the world number 4, Italian Barbara Bossi, performed the best qualification time (4, 711 sec) and got her 4th PSWC Speed Slalom victory! The second best qualification time, 4,881 sec, was made by a young French skater, who is improving very fast, Laurine Moreno (#58). She eventually took the 4th place of the competition. Last year’s winner, Tiffany Derisbourg (Fra, #3) performed 4,973 sec at the qualification and ended second in the big final.

Small final gathered the best-ranked skater of this discipline, Zoé Granjon (Fra, #2) and rising athlete, Laurine Moreno (#58). Zoé won both runs against Laurine and got the third place of the podium, repeating her result from the past year. 

Barbara Bossi (Ita, #4) added one more PSWC victory to her collection, winning both runs in front last year’s winner, Tiffany Derisbourg (Fra, #3)! Last year, Barbara could not come and face Tiffany because of an airport strike, but before she had won 4 PSWC! For Tiffany it's the first main podium of the season !

WOMEN'S FINAL TOP 10

1. Barbara Bossi (Ita)

2. Tiffany Derisbourg (Fra)

3. Zoé Granjon (Fra)

4. Laurine Moreno (Fra)

5. Federica De Sensi (Ita)

6. Paulina Czapla (Pol)

7. Giorgia Cazzaniga (Ita)

8. Ksenija Komarchuk (Ukr)

9. Miriam Fatmi Garcia (Esp)

10. Chloe Arbona (Fra)

P.S. This is your 4th victory of PSWC, how did you feel on the podium ?

B.B. I’m very happy about this victory ! I’m mainly focusing on Speed Slalom, and I think that it’s a very good reward and self-esteem boost for me, and I think it’ll give more confidence for the next events.

P.S. You didn’t participate in the Battle, did you get injured during the Speed Slalom ? What happened ?

B.B. I got hurt during the warm-up. Last week I took part in the Italian Championships and after 4 intense days of competition, I took a day of rest. On Tuesday I went training for Speed Slalom, and I felt some pain on my left leg (the one I slalom with), but I thought it was just tiredness. After the warm-up on Friday I tried to push my speed to try the floor and it felt like somebody just stabbed me in the leg ! I didn’t wanted to give up, so I tried to do my best despite the pain. I didn’t participate in Battle and Classic because I don’t know how severe my injury is, and I don’t want to take any risk. However, I felt very disappointed, I’m not used to give up !

P.S. Who impressed you the most during the event ?

B.B. I’m impressed by the general level of the Juniors. When I was their age, the skating world was less “competitive” and the overall level was lower. Now every young skater is working very hard and Seniors are sometimes grateful that there is a Junior category ! :)

P.S. What is the next event for you ?

B.B. My next event should be Conero Battle in Ancona next week. I still don’t know if I’ll be able to compete or not. My main objectives are EFSC and WFSC, and I don’t want to take any risk that might compromise that.

P.S. How did you like this indoor PSWC ?

B.B. I really like it ! Despite the fact that at the Trocadéro there’s much more audience, and the area is pretty awesome, I think that from a skating point of view, this place is way better : there’s no holes, the ground is flat and there’s enough space for training.

P.S. Do you have a word for all the skaters ? People you’d like to thank ?

B.B. I’d like to thank all my friends who supported me and made this PSWC awesome, all the skaters who did great performances and made a great show ! Thanks Polina for this interview, and thanks everybody for this super PSWC ! See you next time !