A retired Olympic champion. While Johan Clarey confirmed that he was going to leave for one more season despite his 41 years, his compatriot Jean-Frédéric Chapuis, ski cross specialist, announced that he would end his career at 33. The great feat of the native of Bourg-Saint-Maurice will remain the Olympic skicross title in 2014 in Sochi, where he beat his compatriots Arnaud Bovolenta and Jonathan Midol for a historic hat-trick.
Eliminated in the round of 16 in Beijing, Chapuis therefore failed to afford a second Olympic charm before drawing a line under his career as a top athlete. “In recent weeks, talking with my family, my relatives, I could see that I still wanted to train but talking about the season that was coming, it had less effect on me than when I talked about my conversionexplains the 2013 world champion, interviewed by The Team . I thought it was a sign, the right time.»
A conversion that remains secret for the time being. “I am open to all opportunities, I have several tracks, including in sport, skicross in particular, assures the one who also won three Skicross World Cups in a row between 2015 and 2017. Why not coach, or for the Fis. For the moment, these are only projects, it is still a little vague. I will go where my heart tells me to go.»