Mirabelle Thovex: Her sporting career

1999: THE BEGINNING
 

At 8 years old I followed in the footsteps of my sister and tried snowboarding for the first time. I loved it so much that I joined the La Clusaz Sports Club 2 years later. I wanted to try out all the snowboarding disciplines: slalom, snowboard cross, half-pipe and slopestyle because I it is important to do a bit of everything and I especially wanted to be sure that I had tried everything before making my choice of discipline. I liked all types of snowboarding, but I had a preference for freestyle and half-pipe in particular.

2007: THE FRENCH TEAM
 

I joined the French snowboard half-pipe team at 15 and as from then everything happened really quick, I took part in my first World Championships and started travelling all round the world.



 

2010-2011: THE FIRST TIMES
 

In 2010, I took part in my first Olympic Games in Vancouver, it was amazing!
In 2011 I won my first World Cup title at Bardonecchia and then spent the next few years travelling for competitions.

 

2010-2018: COMPETITION AFTER COMPETITION
 

I was lucky enough to compete in 3 Olympic Games (2010, 2014, 2018), 7 World Championships, the X Games in France, the US and Norway, the US Open, Dew Tour and a huge amount of World Cups. It was a crazy time!

 

The pivotal moment in her life as a top-level sports woman

One of the best days of my life was one day in particular at the Sotchi Olympic Games that really marked my career in top sports. I had been preparing for this day for the last 4 years and was feeling really good. My friends and family had sent me a video that I received in the morning of race day and it did me so much good. I sailed through qualifications, the semi-finals and then got through to my ultimate objective, the Finals.
I felt so good, everything was wonderful. After that day I gained in self-confidence and confidence in my snowboard.
FOR INFO: Mirabelle came in 10th in the half-pipe competition.
 

The link between entrepreneurship and top-level sports

This was the subject of my final Thesis for my Master’s degree. There is a much stronger link between entrepreneurship and sports at top-level then we can imagine.
The ideas of exceeding your limit, the love of a challenge, total respect and the all-important team spirit are common to both entrepreneurship and top-level sports.

Her favourite place to work in La Clusaz

I’m maybe a little biased, but I love working at the Candide store, I love sitting at the high tables and watching the world go by as I work.
 

Her favourite place to board in La Clusaz

There are so many places, and everything depends on the snow conditions. It’s not very original, but Balme has to be one of my favourite places in La Clusaz.
 

The best event in La Clusaz

One event which is close to my heart is the Défi Foly because it is held opposite where I grew up and I have always dreamed of taking part. It is a waterslide competition in the Confins Lake that has a great atmosphere. I have unfortunately never been able to participate in the downhill race across the lake because I was always worried about injuring myself before the end of the season, but I really hope to sign up for next year.
 

A project in the years to come

Today, I would like to live my passion for snowboarding in a different way and concentrate more on images, photos and videos not just the pipe. I still have the same opinion as at the beginning of my career, that it is important to know how to do all the snowboarding disciplines. Last winter for example, I went heliskiing in Canada, something I had never had the time to do before and it was brilliant fun!