Revelation of this alpine ski season, Cyprien Sarrazin is not there by chance. He had the trigger when he put in place an unprecedented preparation.
He made the headlines and was even treated to his reports in the 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. news on TF1 and France 2. This shows the resounding feat that Cyprien Sarrazin achieved by winning the Kitzbühel double downhill , in Austria, on January 21 and 22. The last and only Frenchman to have achieved such a feat was Luc Alphand in 1995, almost 30 years ago.
But beyond this victory, it is Cyprien Sarrazin’s entire season which is fantastic. Aged 29, the Gapençais has been on the world circuit since 2016, but has never had a breakthrough. Well, one all the same, since he scored an unexpected victory in his seventh race by winning in the parallel giant of Alta Badia in 2016.
It was therefore in 2023 then at the start of 2024 that Cyprien Sarrazin became the undisputed king of downhill, with a string of podiums and victories. Before the Chamonix event in France, the skier has a total of 3 victories with the two descents of Kitzbühel, but also that of Bormio in Italy. There are also two podiums in Wengen with two 2nd places. But why such success and so sudden?
Often hampered by injuries, he first decided to make a change of discipline during 2021 by focusing on speed races such as super G and downhill. This shift did not really improve his results at first since he only finished the top 10 in a race three times. But the French skier explained that this year he had a “click in his head” which allowed him to finally “allow himself to win” and eliminate what is commonly called imposter syndrome. . “I proved to myself and I proved to everyone that I could be in this place, it’s just fun,” he explained again at a press conference a few days ago.
This trigger came from psychological support that he has put in place since the start of the season. “When I started to feel good about myself, I no longer needed to work on skis,” he says. But beyond his psychologist, it was his mental trainer who triggered this desire to win. “I never allowed myself to win, I always had imposter syndrome and then she told me that and three days later, boom, it clicked in my head.” This proves once again that beyond the natural qualities that an athlete can have in his discipline, mental preparation is an essential element in the success of all athletes.