French ski jumper Valentin Foubert is rapidly turning heads on the World cup circuit, defying expectations with a series of strong finishes. After a fourth-place result in Klingenthal on Sunday – the best French result in a men’s World Cup event in over fifteen years – the 23-year-old athlete is garnering attention not only for his performance but also for his unconventional path to the sport, balancing rigorous training with off-season work as a laborer in Courchevel. Foubert’s story highlights the challenges faced by athletes in nations where ski jumping lacks mainstream popularity.
Initially, many attributed his strong performance at the start of the season in Ruka, Finland – a location known for its challenging winds – to luck.
However, a fourth-place finish in Klingenthal on Sunday, coupled with other promising results early in the winter season, suggests a genuine upward trend.
“Attitudes toward ski jumping are somewhat negative in our country,” he stated frankly, explaining that he works a regular job during the off-season, typically involving physical labor.
Photo: Lisi Niesner, Reuters
French athlete Valentin Foubert in Klingenthal.
After finishing fourth after the first round on Sunday, many still expected him to fall short. However, he decisively silenced doubters, achieving the best French result in a men’s World Cup event since Emmanuel Chedal’s third-place finish in 2009.
What’s driving this improvement? “I finally started sleeping and eating enough. Sometimes I have problems with that. That’s all,” he surprisingly told reporters from TVP Sport during a recent weekend in Wisla. He also admitted to the Polish media that the French federation is now providing significant support. However, he still needs to balance his training schedule with time for work.
“I study and work in Courchevel. You could say I’m a laborer. That’s how I make a living for 50 days a year. I prepare various events. Plus, our town sometimes gets hit by big storms, so sometimes we have to work on rescuing trees growing along the roads. We work as a team,” he explained in an interview, detailing his unique situation. This is a reality that top athletes from Austria, Norway, or Germany likely don’t face.
He recognizes that ski jumpers are often viewed as outsiders in France, where soccer dominates, followed by alpine skiing and biathlon, with ski jumping trailing far behind. However, even the prestigious newspaper L’Equipe recently published a profile on him.
Now 23 years old, Foubert made his World Cup debut at the end of 2020 in Oberstdorf. He earned his first points in the 2022/23 season in Willingen, finishing 23rd. Until this winter, his best result in the elite competition was 12th place in Zakopane last year.
“Becoming a professional ski jumper in France isn’t easy,” he recalls. “I needed a little luck for it to work out. But I received help in Courchevel.”
National coach Nicolas Dessum, a former representative himself, has known Foubert practically since childhood. He says Foubert has the ideal physical build for ski jumping, but also a complex personality. “You could say he’s a bit of an artist; he requires careful guidance,” the coach emphasizes.
As his mother told L’Equipe, his first coach still says he wouldn’t have bet a euro on him. And perhaps that’s why he’s shining. “We didn’t have any expectations of him, no one put pressure on him, and I think he liked that,” she remembers.
He looks forward to large hills, and finds respite from ski jumping in video games – though even there, he finds what he enjoys on the slopes: flying.
“I like flight simulators. They say you have to keep your feet on the ground, but on the other hand, when you jump, you don’t have to think much; you leave everything behind. I think that’s what I’m looking for in games too,” he adds.
