One champion, one trainer: Loan Bozzolo, “physical and combative”
The Caisse d'Epargne Rhône Alpes is supporting five athletes selected for the Beijing Olympics. For each of them, we asked one of their trainers to give a description of their respective athletes.
Loan Bozzolo, 22, was born in Sallanches in the French Alps and is a member of the Saint-Gervais Ski Club for which he has won a number of young people’s competitions, including gold in the 2019 snowboarding junior world championships. He finished twenty-fourth in PyeongChang after a fall in the quarterfinals and – more importantly – after breaking his fibula two months earlier. In 2021, he ranked 21st in the World Championships and 17th in the overall World Cup standings.
Lionel Sibler, a snowboard coach in the Saint-Gervais club, talks about this endearing young man and one of the most highly gifted competitors in his discipline.
"Loan has been with the club since he first started skiing. When he was young, he was constantly competing with his friend Merlin with both of them monopolizing the French championships. His older brother was his role model who helped him a lot. Loan loved speed. He has many qualities: he’s a go-getter; he’s afraid of nothing; he’s very physical and combative, and he never gives up. He’s very strong in one-day races during which he manages to surpass himself; and he’s very good at managing stress. Technically, he can do everything, on all types of terrain, on powdered slopes or in snowboard parks. He’s tried his hand at everything.
Loan has a strong club spirit. He’s always asking what the young people in the Saint-Gervais snowboard ski club are doing.
He’s a very pleasant young man, extremely attentive to others. His success hasn’t gone to his head and he’s still very modest. I know that he’s delighted to be taking part in the Olympics for the second time. His entire fan club will be keeping close track of his races. We're all behind him, we're with him all the way!”
Loan Bozzolo is a member of the group of athletes sponsored by the Caisse d'Epargne Rhône Alpes, a major partner of the French ski and snowboard teams for the past 25 years. Learn more about this commitment HERE!