3 questions to Justine Lemeteyer

16/05/2023

Last year's PWA World Slalom runner-up, French rider Justine Lemeteyer, has made a great start to the 2023 season, winning the Torbole PWA World Cup in Italy with strength and authority. On her way to the Défi Wind in Gruissan, she told Windsurfjournal.com about her first World Cup win.

Windsurfjournal.com: 7 validated races, 6 victories, it's a clear domination in Italy, how does this result inspire you ?
Justine Lemeteyer: 6 wins in 7 races, it's a scenario I never imagined! The equipment was going at 2000 km/h, the sail, the board, the foil, everything was working. There was nothing left to do but go for it. After that I spent a lot of hours over the winter with the foil and now it's paying off. I'm obviously very happy! It's still very fresh, it's still very hard for me to put into words what happened in Torbole. 6 wins in 7 races is really incredible, I don't know what to say!

WJ: You seem to have gained confidence after your 2nd place in Japan and your runner-up finish last year, we suppose that the World title is your goal now?
JL: Yes, of course, it was only one event and I wanted to do it well, because a World Cup is usually made up of several events. When I arrived in Torbole, I wanted to confirm this result and show that it wasn't a coincidence. The winter training in Tenerife and the French team training camp in Hyères had shown me that I had good speed. The speed was there. I came to Italy with the desire to finish on the podium, that was the objective. To win was the ultimate goal. To win an event is the first dream, and the second is to win a world title. We are still very far away, it is only one event, but it is a first step and we will work to get there. But there are people who dream of it and want it, so we'll have to go for it. But it's clear, it's a dream that I feel is getting closer and closer.

WJ : It's your first win on a PWA World Tour event, what lessons do you draw from it and what are the working tracks for the continuation?
JL : There are always lessons that come out of a competition... This one was particularly hard on my head. This one was particularly hard on my head. The early start was a mistake. I had the speed, there was no need to go like that on the start line. But I didn't realise it right away in the action, it was only afterwards, watching the videos, that I realised it wasn't all about the start. Mentally, after the first day, when we were aiming for a podium, or even a win, and we were fourth, it was really hard to say to ourselves that we might end up with only two valid races. Since this winter I have been working with a mental trainer and that definitely played a role this week. It's another element in my preparation and it will help me in the first big event of the season, so it's cool!