Kevin Rolland backs Alex Ferreira and Tess Ledeux at ‘completely different’ Freestyle World Ski Championships

Eurosport expert Kevin Rolland believes that Alex Ferreira and Tess Ledeux both have an excellent chance of success at the upcoming Freestyle World Ski Championships.

Rolland will soon retire from winter sports after a brief return at the 2022 Beijing Olympics that followed a huge injury suffered in 2019 that left him with head trauma and fractured bones, amongst other problems.

The 33-year-old has seven Winter X medals to his name and also won gold at the 2009 edition of the World Championships, but will bring his career to a close after this year’s event.

Speaking to Eurosport, Rolland confirmed: ”It’s going to be my only competition this year.

“It’s kind of special because usually you are in competition mode. You are doing the World Cup. Every competition, every two weeks or every month and this year is different. No competition. Just one, so it’s kind of all in.”

The injury he suffered in 2019 appears to be the reason for his decision, saying: “My doctor told me skiing is over for you. The challenge was to go back to ski and I kind of liked the process to try to do something that is not easy.

“So of course, I will miss competing. But I’m sure I will still have some big challenges in my life, but also in my ski life.”

While he said he felt “pretty confident,” he admitted that, “the best today is Alex Ferreira. He is the one that I’m looking for in the halfpipe. Of course there is always the old man like me, David Wise.

“But I’m also looking for my cousin, my little cousin Tess Ledeux. She’s world champion in big air. She’s one of the best today and she’s going to try to defend her title.

“Of course, I’m French so I’m looking for all the French competitors but yeah, it’s going be fun to be there at the World Championships because I will take part in every event, moguls, ski cross, aerials, halfpipe so it’s going to be interesting.”

Rolland also described the different feeling of winning a World Championships event compared to a more routine World Cup victory.

“It’s completely different,” he said. “Not on the technical side, because it’s the same halfpipe and you’re going to do the same tricks. But it’s completely different in the mind.

”Because if you win a World Cup, yeah you have a win in the World Cup. But if you win the World Championship, you’re a world champion. That’s completely different. And a world champion stays forever. One title in the World Cup, it stays but it’s not the same.

“For the World Championships and also the Olympics, the atmosphere is always different. Because like I said before, there is a title to get. It’s really hard to explain.

“But there is something in the air when you are in a big competition like this. Because everybody [feels] the pressure – the athletes, but also the coaches and the staff and all this pressure, you can do something really great with it, and you can do something really bad.

“That’s why you have to find the balance and use it as a power.”

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