5 Chamoniards heading to the Winter Olympics

5 Chamoniards at the Winter Olympics 2018

Team Chamonix Mont Blanc going for gold

Imprint: By Greg van der Donk, Updated 6 February 2018

2018 is an Olympic year, a winter Olympic year to be precise. Chamonix has long been famous for producing some of the world’s top winter sports talent, perhaps unsurprising considering the first winter games took place here in 1924.

Five Chamoniards will be representing France in five different disciplines in Korea in a just over 10 days time. Here's a quick rundown of who they are and what they do. So if you are in Chamonix during the Olympics you'll know what the fuss is about and if you're watching, give these locals some support!

Blaise Giezendanner - Alpine Skiing
This young skier has been going from strength to strength since debuting on the world cup in 2013. Most recently he came 9th in the prestigious Kitzbuhel Super G.

Damien Tarantola - Cross-country skiing
A member of the French national team since U18, Damien has been competing at the world cup level since 2014.

Vincent Descombes Sevoie - Ski Jumping
A relative veteran in the ski jumping world, he has been on the world cup circuit since 2006. His best result so far was 9th at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010.

Merlin Surget - Snowboard Cross
18-year-old Merlin is currently French boardercross champion and won a Gold medal at the Olympic Festival of European Youth.

François Braud - Nordic Combined
His event of choice is a mix of Ski Jumping and Cross Country Skiing. François has already been part of two Olympic teams, in Sochi he came fourth as part of the team event.

Top Chamonix talent and ski racing veteran and two-time Olympian Guillermo Fayed will unfortunately not be going to the Olympics due to an injury sustained at the Kitzbuhel Downhill recently.

The 2018 Pyeong Chang Winter Olympics run from the 9th February to the 25th February. Athletes from 92 countries will be competing in 102 medal events, in 15 different disciplines. The events will be held across 15 different venues, ice events will largely take place in the coastal city of Gangneung while mountain events will take place further inland in the Pyeong Chang district itself.

A full schedule of events can be seen here.

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