Ski jumping: discovering Marie Thomas-Couturaud
In French women’s ski jumping, there is the leader Joséphine Pagnier, Emma Chervet, who discovered the World Cup last winter, the promising Lilou Zepchi then Mathilde Bacconnier and Marie Thomas-Couturaud. The latter, aged 17 and a member of the Marnaz-Vougy ski club (Haute-Savoie), only started ski jumping 5 years ago.
“I’m from Réunion, so the skiing wasn’t premeditated at all, she tells Nordic Magazine. We moved not far from La Rochelle when I wasn’t even a year old, so I have no memory of being there.” It was only later, when Marie Thomas-Couturaud was 3, that her family moved to Marignier in Haute-Savoie.
“When I was little, I started doing competitive downhill skiing and gymnastics. I was good at both disciplines and performed quite well, she says. The Mont-Blanc committee was looking for girls for ski jumping because there was a shortage. I had quite a good combination of the criteria they were looking for, such as being small and flexible. So the president of my club put me forward! As I’m open to all disciplines, I gave it a go and really enjoyed it.”
A mental coach to help you get through the summer
After that, things went rather quickly for Marie Thomas-Couturaud, who was crowned French U15 champion. After two years in the Pôle Espoir at the Lycée du Fayet, she joined the Centre Interrégional d’Entraînement (CIE) in Moûtiers at the start of the 2023 academic year, where she will spend her final two years before the baccalaureate while practising ski jumping.
But why did she get hooked on ski jumping ? “I liked it because I’m a fan of thrills. It’s not well known at all, but I love this sport because it gives you sensations that you don’t get in other disciplines. You can fly on your own, I find that incredible”, she replies.
After around two years of stagnation, or rather of very slow progress, Marie Thomas-Couturaud began to move forward again this summer. “Something just clicked,” she says. The trigger was the help of a mental coach. “My performances were very different in training and in competition. So I had to get help, explains the native of Réunion. Now, I do even better in competition than I did in training!”
A nasty flaw to correct if you want to keep making progress
With two top 10 finishes in the FESA Cup and another in the Intercontinental Cup over the summer, Marie Thomas-Couturaud has shown that she will be a force to be reckoned with in the future. This despite a flaw that she absolutely must correct: “When I change hills, my timing is much too early. I lose all my efficiency and that’s something I’m having a lot of trouble sorting out, she regrets. I need to work on it like I do on telemark.”
In recent months, the Haut-Savoyard has also had to deal with competition from Mathilde Bacconnier, her team-mate and best friend. “We’re together all the time and we know each other very well. Last winter, I slept at her place, but that meant difficult times, she notes. As there are two of us, we’re always fighting for a place and that creates a bit of unease depending on who succeeds.”
Particularly when Mathilde Bacconnier took her place for the YOG against Marie Thomas-Couturaud. “Before, I always wanted to do better than her. Now we’ve managed to put that aside and support each other,” she says.
Returning to the World Juniors, his goal for the coming winter
After taking part in her first Junior World Championships in Planica (Slovenia) at the end of last winter, the Montblanc native will start the 2024/2025 season with the French Cup, before taking part in the FESA Cup in Seefeld (Austria) before Christmas.
“It would be nice to make another top 10, but above all I want to qualify for the World Junior Championships, which will be in the United States this year”, says Marie Thomas-Couturaud, keen to do everything she can to join Joséphine Pagnier, whom she admires, in the World Cup in the future.
- Hinterzarten: Katharina Schmid wins the second competition, Marie Thomas-Couturaud in the second round
- Einsiedeln: Marie Thomas-Couturaud and Julien Gay also shine
- FESA Games in Oberwiesenthal: Marie Thomas-Couturaud in the top 10 of a competition reduced to one round, Mathilde Bacconnier twelfth
