Beijing 2022 Olympics – Tess Ledeux’s “double cork 1620” deciphered: “If she succeeds, she is guaranteed to be titled”

A new page in the history of freestyle skiing was written barely two weeks ago. The “guilty” is French, is called Tess Ledeux, is only 20 years old and already has a track record to make any thirty-year-old pale (double world champion and winner of a big general globe). Last January 21 at the X-Games, she added an unofficial but far from anecdotal line to this already well-stocked list, becoming the first woman to achieve a “double cork 1620” in competition. De facto favorite of the Big Air, Tess Ledeux has a huge ace up her sleeve. Ophélie David, former ski cross world champion and consultant for Eurosport, deciphers this jump and how Tess Ledeux became the only one to succeed.

The world of Big Air has seen two revolutions in the last three months. On November 10, Eileen Gu, double world champion 2021 (Slopestyle and Big Air) posted on Instagram the video of her “double cork 1440” in training. A world first which did not last long since Tess Ledeux did better by half a rotation only a few weeks later.

The “cork” deciphered

“A cork is a rotation in the air on the side, which means that the head does not go under the feetexplains Ophelie David. Since it’s a double cork, she does it twice. As for the 1620, these are the degrees of rotation that it puts on itself. 1620° correspond to four and a half turns. She starts from the front, and as she makes a U-turn in addition to the first four, she arrives in reverse on the landing zone.” So much for the theory. For the practice, Tess Ledeux is the only one in the world who can express herself.

“I’m pretty good at it, she said at a press conference after her first training sessions in China. It reassured me to put it in place quickly, it worked the first time. For the moment in training, it’s 100%. I had a lot of doubts before coming here because I had only put it down two or three times really well“. The doubts, Tess Ledeux has now transmitted them to the competition. With this “signature jump“, La Plagnarde has a highway to gold, according to our consultant.

Gymnastics, water jump and airbag: How Ledeux learned his jump

“If she succeeds in her jump, she is guaranteed to be titled. On the Big Air, it would be difficult to justify not graduating a girl who lands a jump that she is the only one to do and who is technically above all the rest. It’s just not possible. This is the maximum difficulty“How does one manage to land such a difficult jump in competition? The process is long,”a year“, evaluates Ophélie David with regard to Tess Ledeux. She details the stages of learning.

“It starts with a big phase of pure gymnastics. All this gymnastic preparation is done on big trampolines like at the Summer Olympics. Then you can go on the foam pits or water jump (landing in the water)“. This entire first phase is therefore carried out “dry”, without the equipment and indoors. It is only once this part has been perfectly mastered that you can test yourself on the real Big Air springboard.

“Then there are the ‘big airbags’, large air cushions that are positioned in the landing zonescontinues David. The skier has her equipment, her equipment, she is in real conditions. But if it arrives unbalanced, it doesn’t get hurt… It’s the last step before putting it on snow, in ‘real’“. A whole journey that led Tess Ledeux to the top of the X-Games last month, before perhaps opening the way to her first Olympic title.

But will we necessarily see the “double cork 1620” in the Big Air final on Tuesday (3 hours in France, live on Eurosport)? “Tess did it every day in practice. So I imagine that it also weighs on the competition“, mischievously commented the coach of the French freestyle ski team Grégory Guenet. “She’s got that joker up her sleevesupports Ophélie David. You have to see what the opponents offer. There is a whole tactic to put in place. With this leap in her technical spectrum, Tess has the most leeway. The others must do their best but his is far above“. Having your destiny in your hands in the final of the Games is not so trivial and Ledeux therefore really has the gold at the end of the skis.