Nordic skiing: 73 Nordic athletes integrated into the Savoie Ski Committee
At its annual general meeting, the Savoie Ski Committee presented its ambitions and roadmap for the coming winter. A historic pillar of French skiing, France’s largest ski committee has 13,472 members and currently coaches 142 athletes in all disciplines, including 42 biathletes, 23 cross-country skiers and 8 specialists in Nordic jumping and Nordic combined.
As a symbol of this reputation, Savoie is led by international stars such as biathletes Eric Perrot, Océane Michelon, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and Julia Simon, as well as cross-country runner Richard Jouve and jumper Valentin Foubert.
“The results have been positive, but it’s above all the number of young people who have made the French team, who come from the committee, that is important. Today, we’ve gone from 10 to 16 young people in the French team [all Nordic disciplines combined, editor’s note]. We’ve almost doubled our numbers. It’s proof that our working system is working well,” points out Patrick Rémy, the committee’s Nordic manager.
Behind these results lies a clear model: individualised support from the start of secondary school. The committee supports young people throughout their career, from the age of 6 right through to the end of secondary school, in other words eight years (secondary school in four years) of structured progression. ” The aim is to build up each athlete so that they can perform in their final year of high school, at U20 level, and join the French national teams,” explains the technician.
This long-term work is also supported by concrete resources. The committee has modernised its infrastructure, with a renovated headquarters in Albertville, the construction of a champions’ residence, a sports hall due to open in 2023 and a base camp at La Féclaz for Nordic disciplines. ” These investments will enable us to be more autonomous and provide better training conditions for our young people,” says Thierry Schoenauer, President of the Savoie Ski Committee.
Clear ambitions for 2025/2026
With these foundations in place, the Savoie committee is aiming high. ” We believe that our best-performing teams should be at the same level as the French teams,” says the committee chairman. The aim is simple: to win selections for the World Cup, IBU Cup, FESA Cup and World Junior Championships.
Today, the mission of the French teams is to bring home medals from the Olympic Games,” continues Thierry Schoenauer. For those of us who are still young, we have to do everything we can to win international caps and compete at the very highest level.
While the Milan/Cortina 2026 Olympic Games are shaping up to be a major event, the Committee is already preparing for the future. We’re working on the post-Milan/Cortina period, i.e. 2030 in France,” explains Patrick Rémy. We need to bring in new athletes capable of competing with those of today. And that means rigorous monitoring and lots of training.
For Thierry Schoenauer, the Savoie committee must be the driving force behind French skiing, and he is aiming for very positive results next winter. ” Our aim is to have as many [athletes] as possible in the Federation and to win as many podium places as possible […] We don’t just want to be close to the podium . [We don’t just want to be close to the podium. We want to turn fourth places into podiums, and podiums into victories”, concludes the President of the Savoie Ski Committee.
Read also
- Biathlon | Cross-country skiing: the Savoie committee’s workforce for the 2025/2026 season
- Thierry Schoenauer remains chairman of the Savoie ski committee
