Para cross-country skiing: Karl Tabouret on the World Cup podium
In recent years, there have only been two Frenchmen regularly on the international podium in Nordic para-skiing: Bornandin Benjamin Daviet and Morzine’s Anthony Chalençon, the flag-bearers of the discipline in France.
This Saturday, they were joined by their young compatriot Karl Tabouret. Competing in the standing category, he has made steady progress over the last few seasons… culminating in second place in the para cross-country skiing classic sprint in Val di Fiemme (Italy).
He had a magnificent day, finishing sixth in the qualifying round, winning his semi-final easily and then completing a final in which only Germany’s Sebastian Marburger did better than him. “He started like a bomb and came out on top of the hill,” his coach Vincent Duchêne told Nordic Magazine.
“I put in all the energy I had left and, when I got to the top of the climb, I saw that I’d managed to put in some frequency and strength, confirms Karl Tabouret, who suffers from cerebral palsy with spastic lower limb damage. I pushed as hard as I could, but I lacked a bit and I was overtaken in the last few metres.”
A moment of shared happiness
“He really wasn’t far from winning, it’s a great reference race, said his coach. It came down to a slightly worse recovery than the German on the bridge to the finish. But he’s got nothing to be ashamed of – what he did was huge! We were like crazy at the finish.”
For Karl Tabouret, this first World Cup podium is obviously an important step in his career as a top-level sportsman. “I wasn’t expecting it at all, he admits. It was a moment of happiness and it’s even cooler to know that I’m feeling good on the Games circuit. It makes me even more serene for next year.”
“He now knows that he’s one of the very best and that he can potentially achieve something great at the Games, says Vincent Duchêne. I hope he realises that and realises it, so that it boosts him to train even harder and better. That’s the message I’m going to give him.” In the meantime, Karl Tabouret will be competing in the para biathlon World Championships in Pokljuka (Slovenia) next week.
- The programme for the second stage of the 2024/2025 World Cup in Val di Fiemme
- Anaïs Delavier, Alexis Sanchez and Maxime Gayet selected: the French team with some newcomers at the Val di Fiemme World Cup
- “I don’t need much more to play up front”: Benjamin Daviet prepared for the Pokljuka World Championships at the Val di Fiemme World Cup.
- Val di Fiemme: Karl Tabouret magnificent second in the classic sprint, the other Frenchmen out after qualifying
