Hernandez-Cervellon focused on progress despite injuries

The French snowboard world champion had to put back her training schedule but feels ready to take on the World Cup circuit once again. 10 Nov 2015
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Cecile Hernandez-Cervellon snowboards down the course at Sochi 2014.

Cecile Hernandez-Cervellon finished second in the debut of women's snowboard cross at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.

ⒸGetty Images
By IPC

“To win a medal and make the history of Paralympic Games was absolutely awesome, I was proud to prove that I could overcome a terrible diagnosis, proud for my daughter and my family, proud for all the persons with the same illness as mine."

Banked slalom world champion Cecile Hernandez-Cervellon is hoping to be the toast of France once again in 2015-16, despite injuries which put her training back over the spring and summer.

Hernandez, who won silver at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in snowboard-cross time-trial, is determined to step onto the IPC Snowboard World Cup podium as she did five times last season.

However, injuries sustained following her victory at the World Championships in La Molina, Spain, and her multiple sclerosis, have put back her schedule.

“I don’t know if I will compete as well as last year,” Hernandez-Cervellon said. “The level of the other girls is getting better and better so I need to train if I want to win races this season. It will be difficult but I will do my best to progress and win medals. I must train on my technical and physical condition and hope my illness will leave me alone as often as possible”.

Hernandez-Cervellon is preparing for the new season at the resort of Les Angles, in the French Pyrenees, close to her hometown of Perpignan.

She is training with her coach Aymeric Tonin and her personal physical trainer Nicolas Bourrel, who help her dealing with the evolution of her illness: muscle weakness, spasticity, balance and tiredness.

Les Angles host a leg of the IPC Snowboard Europa Cup and World Cup between 8-12 March 2016. Hernandez-Cervellon does not want to miss out on a chance to compete at home.

“To win in my country and favourite resort means everything to me,” she said. “My family, my friends and the inhabitants of Les Angles will be there to support me. I want to win and offer them my victories.”

A former able-bodied snowboarder, in 2002 Hernandez-Cervellon was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and had to find a new approach to her favourite sport.

“Snowboarding with MS [multiple sclerosis] is totally different” she said. “MS is an illness that causes a lot of problems of balance and weaknesses so when I restarted snowboarding, I had to do it in another way and adapt my ride”.

When she was diagnosed, doctors told her to find another hobby as in their opinion she would not be able to ride again.

But when she met French snowboarder Patrice Baraterro in 2013, her outlook changed.

Baraterro explained that it was still possible to practice snowboard with an impairment. They trained together and Hernandez-Cervellon realised what she was capable of, going on to compete at the debut of snowboard at Sochi 2014.

“I never dreamt about high level sport as living with MS is hard and practicing snowboard wasn’t imaginable. So when I arrived at the Olympic Village in Sochi, I was like a kid with many stars in the eyes, like in a dream” she said.

“To win a medal and make the history of Paralympic Games was absolutely awesome, I was proud to prove that I could overcome a terrible diagnosis, proud for my daughter and my family, proud for all the persons with the same illness as mine. Proud for all the persons in France who supported me and helped me to get that medal. I know I can’t snowboard like when I was able but, for me, it is really cool to be back on a snowboard with this severe illness”.

Thanks to her achievements, in June 2014 she was named Knight of the National Order of Merit by the President of France, François Hollande. This was a ‘special moment’ after the Paralympic Games and a huge recognition for all athletes and para-snowboarders in particular.

“We were together, the Olympic and Paralympic team,” Hernandez-Cervellon said. “It was great and I was very proud, of course. If somebody had told me that I would live such a moment, I would not have believed that.”

The 2015-2016 season gets underway in Landgraaf, the Netherlands with a Europa and World Cup between 18-20 November.

The full race calendar can be viewed at IPC Snowboard’s new website.