Career Highlights of 2-Time Olympic Champion in Snowboarding Pierre Vaultier
Pierre Vaultier is one of the most famous French snowboarders at the moment thanks to his success at the World Cup, World Championships and Winter Olympic Games. However, the road to that success wasn’t an easy one as the athlete had to work a lot in order to make his dreams true. Let’s have a look at the career highlights of this snowboarder.
Career Beginnings
Pierre Vaultier poster
Pierre Vaultier was born on June 24, 1987, in Briancon, France. At the age of six, he started to practice in snowboarding at Serre Chevalier though before he did skiing. When Pierre was asked what he loves snowboarding for, he answered: “What I love about snowboarding is the spirit and the freedom which make snowboarding so different to other sports”.
He started to take part in competitions in 1997. In 2004, he became a member of the young French team and in 2005, the athlete joined the older team. Pierre took part in 2005 Junior World Championships and gained a bronze medal in snowboard cross.
International Achievements
Pierre Vaultier poster
At 2007/08 World Cup, the snowboarder won a crystal globe after being second in the final at Chiesa in Valmalenco. In total, he won the World Cup events 22 times and rose to the podium 13 times, winning 12 silver and 1 bronze medals.
The snowboarder competed at 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2015 World Championships, but gained his first gold medal only in 2017. In addition, participating in Europa Cup events, Vaultier won 4 gold and 1 silver medals.
Winter Olympic Games
Poster of Pierre Vaultier
Pierre Vaultier debuted at the Winter Olympic Games in 2006 Turin. He finished on the 35th place. At 2010 Winter Olympics, he reached the top 10 result by being 9th in snowboard cross.
At 2014 Sochi, the snowboarder claimed a gold Olympic gold. At 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, he defended his title.
The Frenchman commented his victory in such a way: “The first one was incredible. I came back from injury two months before the Games and it meant a lot. I can’t even say why, but this one means even more. It’s a great second gold medal. I’m having trouble saying how I feel. I'm on the verge of tears because I’ve got over the line. These are huge emotions”.
Pierre also added that he had a guardian angel: “I have a guardian angel. In the semi-final, when I crashed with silver medalist Jarryd Hughes, I stepped out of my binding to push on top of the kicker and finished in third place. That was so sick. A piece of bad luck turned into an unexpected piece of good luck. My coach said to me: 'Nothing else can happen to you now. You smash the final and no one will be able to take anything away from you.' And that’s just what happened”.
So, Pierre Vaultier always proves that he is one of the strongest athletes in snowboard cross and 2018 Winter Olympics showed that he is ready to move to the set aim and overcome all the obstacles on the way to it.
