Gauthier de Tessières (born November 9, 1981 in Clermont-Ferrand ) is a former French ski racer . He was a member of the French national team from 1999 to 2013. At world championships he won a gold and a silver medal.
De Tessières contested his first race at L'Alpe d'Huez at the age of five . His place of residence outside of the mountain regions forced him to attend the École de Ski Français . After some good placements in FIS races , he was accepted into the B-squad of the French national ski team at the age of 18.
He achieved his first international success in February 2001 when he finished third in the Super-G at the Junior World Championship in Verbier, Switzerland . Finally, in December 2001, he contested his first World Cup race in Val-d'Isère . For several years, a 15th place, which he achieved in December 2004 at the giant slalom in Flachau , remained his best result. He was able to improve this significantly on December 13, 2008 when he finished third in the giant slalom in Val-d'Isère. In the first run, as thirtieth, he only just qualified for the second run, in which he left 27 drivers behind with the fastest time. He has not been able to confirm this result so far, only two years later, in the 2010/11 season, he was eighth in the giant slalom in Alta Badia and ninth in the giant slalom in Adelboden two more times in the top ten.
In 2005 de Tessières took part in a World Ski Championships for the first time in Bormio , but retired in the giant slalom. Two years later he finished 22nd in the Super-G and 29th in the giant slalom in Åre . At the 2009 World Championships in Val-d'Isère , he was the best Frenchman in eleventh place in the Super-G and in 15th place in the giant slalom. In his Olympic debut in Turin in 2006 , Tessières drove in the Super-G to 39th place and at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver , he finished 31st in this discipline. In the giant slalom, he did not finish both times. At the 2011 World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen , Tessières was team world champion with the French team, without having contested a run himself.
In the 2011/12 World Cup season, de Tessières did not get past 14th place. At the beginning of the 2012/13 season, he got two top ten placements. With these achievements he would not have qualified for the 2013 World Cup in Schladming . However, when Johan Clarey was injured a few days before the start of the World Cup, de Tessières moved up to the French team and surprisingly won the silver medal in the Super-G. His best World Cup ranking in this discipline had previously been eighth.
Due to insufficient results, de Tessières was not considered for the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi . He then announced his immediate retirement from top-class sport on January 31, 2014.