Philippe Laroche

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Philippe Laroche Freestyle skiing
Laroche on an Azerbaijani postage stamp
nation CanadaCanada Canada
birthday 12th December 1966 (age 53)
place of birth Quebec , Canada
size 180 cm
Weight 80 kg
job Restaurateur
Career
discipline Aerials
society Ski Bec Acrobatique de Lac Beauport
status resigned
End of career February 1995
Medal table
Olympic games 0 × gold 1 × silver 0 × bronze
World championships 2 × gold 0 × silver 1 × bronze
Olympic rings winter Olympics
gold Albertville 1992 Aerials
silver Lillehammer 1994 Aerials
FIS Freestyle Skiing World Championships
bronze Oberjoch 1989 Aerials
gold Lake Placid 1991 Aerials
gold Altenmarkt-Zauchensee 1993 Aerials
Placements in the Freestyle Skiing World Cup
 Debut in the World Cup December 13, 1987
 World Cup victories 18th
 Overall World Cup 8. (1987/88)
 Aerials World Cup 1. (1990/91, 1991/92, 1993/94)
 Podium placements 1. 2. 3.
 Aerials 18th 8th 9
 

Philippe Laroche (born December 12, 1966 in Québec , Québec ) is a former Canadian freestyle skier . He specialized in the aerials (jumping) discipline. In 1991 and 1993 he was world champion, in 1994 he won the Olympic silver medal. In the World Cup he won three disciplines and 18 individual competitions. His older brothers Yves , Dominique and Alain were also active as freestyle skis.

biography

Childhood and youth

Philippe was born in Québec as the sixth of seven children of the architect Guy Laroche (1930–?) And his wife Suzanne (née Grondin, 1931–2017) . He grew up in a house at the foot of Mont St-Castin in the immediate vicinity of the ski area of ​​the same name in Lac-Beauport . Together with his three older brothers Yves , Dominique and Alain , he developed an enthusiasm for freestyle skiing, especially jumping (aerials), which would later make the siblings the spearhead of the so-called " Québec Air Force ". Philippe started skiing at the age of three and, inspired by his brothers, jumped his first backflips in the garden at the age of nine . At first he pursued a career as a ski racer , but changed the sport after successfully participating in a freestyle competition. His younger sister Lucie embarked on a career as a ski racer.

Athletic career

Laroche began performing at the Volvo Ski Show at the age of 16 but eventually pursued a competitive career after being impressed by the popularity of his brothers Yves and Alain. In December 1987 he made his debut in the Freestyle Skiing World Cup in Tignes and finished third straight away. Only six days later he celebrated his first World Cup victory in La Plagne . With two more victories in Breckenridge and Oberjoch , he finished his first season in second place in the discipline ranking behind his teammate Jean-Marc Rozon . In the coming winter he succeeded in repeating his victory in Breckenridge, in the Aerials classification he was again second. He won the bronze medal at his first world championships in Oberjoch. In 1989/90 he was able to win two more World Cup competitions and finished second in the discipline classification for the third time in a row.

In the winter of 1990/91, Laroche achieved four wins of the season for the first time, which meant that he was also able to secure the discipline award for the first time. He also won the gold medal at the World Championships in Lake Placid . Also in the next year he kept the upper hand in his discipline and won the demonstration competition as part of the Olympic Games in Albertville , along with four more jumps . In the coming season he missed three competitions and slipped back to sixth in the Aerials classification. Instead, he managed to successfully defend his title at the World Championships in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee . In 1993/94 he completed his last full season and won the discipline ranking for the third time with three individual victories. In the Olympic Games of Lillehammer where Aerials first time officially on the program, he was considered a big favorite, but the Swiss had to Andreas Schönbächler beaten and settle for the silver medal.

A year later he took part in the World Championships in La Clusaz , but did not get past seventh place.

Further career

After finishing his sporting career, Philippe Laroche made a career in the catering industry. He was spokesman for the Canadian brewery and restaurant chain La Cage and ran a branch in Chicoutimi for six years before returning to Québec. Since 2006 he has been running a branch in the Lebourgneuf district as a franchisee. In addition, he continued to be involved in sport and worked with the Le Relais and Stoneham ski areas to develop a national training center.

Laroche is married and has two daughters.

Style and reception

Unlike most freestyle ski jumpers, Philippe Laroche had a background in alpine skiing, which he particularly made use of when landing his jumps. As the specialist magazine Ski reported in 1991, he passed on his understanding of the correct landing technique to jumpers from other nations. In the early 1990s he was the only World Cup freestyler to master a double-in, full, full , a combination of three backflips and four turns. Frank Beddor had already shown this jump in a ski film, but the FIS rules forbade a demonstration in the World Cup at that time. The hobby musician Laroche always carried a sharp-edged snow shovel and an inclinometer with him during his competition time in order to shape the kickers according to his ideas: “I like shaping jumps. When you shape the jump, you feel it, you touch it, you know it. Shaping jumps is an art. "

Not least because of his two world championship titles and the Olympic medals, Philippe became the most successful and best-known of the four Laroche brothers. In 1998 he was inducted into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame as the third of the siblings. Freestyle Canada ranked his gold win at the 1992 Olympics, which he achieved only two years after the serious accident of his brother Yves , among the 30 best Olympic moments in Canadian freestyle skiing.

successes

Olympic games

World championships

World Cup ratings

season total Aerials
space Points space Points
1987/88 8th. 24 2. 168
1988/89 13. 23 2. 138
1989/90 10. 24 2. 142
1990/91 9. 23 1. 210
1991/92 10. 24 1. 189
1992/93 12. 84 6th 504
1993/94 10. 93 1. 744

World Cup victories

Laroche achieved 35 podiums in the World Cup, including 18 victories:

date place country discipline
December 19, 1987 La Plagne France Aerials
January 24, 1988 Breckenridge United States Aerials
March 6, 1988 Oberjoch Germany Aerials
January 29, 1989 Breckenridge United States Aerials
January 7, 1990 Mont Gabriel Canada Aerials
January 14, 1990 Lake Placid United States Aerials
December 16, 1990 Zermatt Switzerland Aerials
January 20, 1991 Breckenridge United States Aerials
3rd February 1991 Mont Gabriel Canada Aerials
March 21, 1991 Hundfjället Sweden Aerials
December 15, 1991 Piancavallo Italy Aerials
January 12, 1992 Blackcomb Canada Aerials
January 25, 1992 Lake Placid United States Aerials
2nd February 1992 Oberjoch Germany Aerials
January 31, 1993 Le relay Canada Aerials
January 16, 1994 Breckenridge United States Aerials
January 30, 1994 Le relay Canada Aerials
February 9, 1994 Hundfjället Sweden Aerials

More Achievements

  • 2 Canadian championship titles (Aerials 1991 and 1992)
  • Victory at the Freestyle Splash in 1988

Awards

  • 1998: Induction into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ La Roche, Guy. Québec Governorate, 2013, accessed April 18, 2020 (French).
  2. ^ Avis de Décès - La Roche, Suzanne Grondin. Wilbrod Robert, April 16, 2017, accessed April 18, 2020 (French).
  3. ↑ a b c Reade Bailey: Air Canada. In: Ski. February 1991, pp. 49-50 (English).
  4. ^ A b Pierre Durocher: Philippe LaRoche: de skieur à restaurateur avec la même determination. Journal de Montréal, January 21, 2018, accessed April 18, 2020 (French).
  5. ^ Philippe Laroche, ski acrobatique. RDS, January 1, 2002, accessed April 18, 2020 (French).
  6. ↑ 28: Philippe Laroche. Freestyle Canada, 2018, accessed April 18, 2020 (French).
  7. ↑ Meri-Jo Borzilleri: Lake Placid: World's Aerials HQ. In: Skiing. October 1988, p. 234 (English).
  8. ^ Philippe LaRoche. (PDF; 64 kB) The Canadian Ski Hall of Fame, accessed on April 18, 2020 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Laroche, Philippe
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian freestyle skier
DATE OF BIRTH December 12, 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH Quebec City