Mathilde Gremaud, who recently defended her slopestyle gold medal in a tense duel with China’s Eileen Gu, has become one of the most decorated athletes in her sport’s history. With four Olympic medals now to her name, the 26-year-old has achieved a level of success that most competitors can only dream of.

In collaboration with Omega, EssentiallySports’ Shreya Varma spoke with Gremaud in Milan during the Winter Games, as part of an exclusive on-ground conversation. During which, the Swiss athlete revealed that her perspective on legacy extends far beyond the medal count.

“I think this is always kind of a hard one because from my side I feel like legacy is sometimes defined by people, like what they pick from you, what the journalists ask you and that’s kind of being shaped not only by you but also from people who surround you,” Mathilde Gremaud explained.

The 26-year-old then opened up about the demands of elite competition, stating, “There is so much that we learned and we have to learn when we are athletes because if you don’t try to get better as an athlete you will just not make any results and you will just fall behind. and I think as an athlete you’re forced to find solutions to get better and keep moving and overcome a challenge and I think a big part of what I wish my legacy is or will be even with time.”

Her perspective is centered around personal well-being, which is the foundation upon which all else is built. “When you look after yourself, you can progress, you can become a better person, and you can achieve things that you thought were not possible,” she continued.

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“If you don’t look after yourself, I feel like you only see limits around you, and if you are nice with yourself and you’re like, ‘no, okay, I cannot do this right now,’ but if I try working and I start working in that direction, maybe one day I will be able to achieve it.”

For someone with four Olympic medals, three World Championship medals, and multiple Winter X Games accolades, her approach was slow. Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor was her career, and she admires her progressive approach to taking things, rather than rushing to achieve her desired ambitions.

“I don’t think you put any limits on yourself and you can just keep going all the time and make progress and I think we are forced to do this as athletes and I think people, for me it’s like yeah maybe the legacy or like an important point at least in my legacy I would like people to also try for themselves because I think I’ve observed as well a lot of people who just like sit here and they’re not happy with their life but they’re kind of happy and they don’t try to grow and I think that brings so much happiness to try and be nice to yourself,” she said.

Gremaud’s philosophy extends to how she approaches the terrifying prospect of launching herself down a mountain at high speeds.

When asked about the mental preparation required for such a dangerous pursuit, she described it, stating, “I think the mental work, I try to do it before the competition so that when I am at the start I know what I have to do and I don’t have to think about this trick and this and that and I just, I’m really in the moment and really free to just go down the slope and focus on just what I’m feeling right now under my skis and my feet and my body and stuff.”

It’s all about the state of flow for the skier. And the moment her mind is empty of any lingering doubts, that’s when the motivation kicks in.

“I prepare a lot mentally before I visualise everything I have to do, everything I want to do, and how I want to do it, and then there’s, I’m just there. So it’s really, I try to have an empty mind and listen to music, and so when I’m there I don’t have to prepare anymore, I’m prepared, and I know it, and I know it’s going to be good, so I try to prepare before, yeah,” she added.

And when asked if any move still gives her butterflies, Gremaud’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah, I mean every time, even if it’s a, let’s say in slopestyle there’s like different tricks so you have to do a full run so when I’m at the bottom it’s definitely like a lot of adrenaline and it’s a crazy feeling and in big air it’s maybe, it’s not as long but the trick is normally bigger and harder so when you land you’re also like super happy and it’s a relief so I would say kind of every time, like every time you get to the bottom and you’re stoked about what you did it’s like, yeah, a wonderful feeling,” the Swiss free skier said.

Mathilde Gremaud’s big air campaign at the Milan Olympics began with promise as she secured third place in the qualification round on February 14, delivering three well-received jumps to post a score of 169.00 and earn her spot in the final. However, her quest for a second medal was derailed during a practice session just before the final, when she suffered a severe hip contusion after completely messing up a jump.

The injury forced the defending big air bronze medalist to withdraw from the competition, ending her Games on a bittersweet note despite having already retained her slopestyle title. However, her surge to that Olympic gold medal was filled with struggles.

Mathilde Gremaud’s road to success was filled with obstacles

The Livigno Snow Park saw Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud defend her Olympic slopestyle gold. From the start, she put up a score of 83.60, which was enough for silver. However, her rival was China’s Eileen Gu, who was above her in the first run, where she scored 86.58. Then came the second run, which changed the course of the podium.

Gremaud secured 86.96 points, surpassing her Chinese rival, who wasn’t able to counter the challenge. And with that score, the gold was hers. But it was the post-event confession that showcased her resilience to fight the odds.

“Some phases I was really down — it’s like up and down, but most of the time I enjoy skiing like 80 percent of the time, and 20 percent of the last four years were a bit tough. I pushed through the season, and then I was just like done. And then it took about a year to recover, and then in this whole thing was a lot of troubles with my previous manager,” she told Agence France-Presse.

Towards the end of 2023, she lost her aunt, and it completely broke her. The Swiss even mentioned that she was scared to go outside her own house because of anxiety in April 2024.

“I was like, ‘Skiing is really not the hard thing for me, all the rest is.’ I could still do a lot of great things and I had a lot of great days, but the period was darker than sunny,” she admitted.

The path for Gremaud has not been easy, but her resilience has proven to excel over any challenge that life has thrown her way.