Tessa Worley, French alpine ski racer
When I was younger, my role model was Tessa Worley. To this day she remains one of the best French ski racers, male or female, ever. She’s won multiple World Championships and World Cups, and once she was opening a race in Megève and I remember seeing her and I was like, “Oh my God, you are so cool.”
I must have been about seven when I saw her ski for the first time. I was like, “You’re sick.” Then I started racing, getting into it more. And pre-teen I won one of the French Nationals, and I won her helmet that she won the French Championships in. That was amazing. I saw her at another race, where she was trying to inspire kids. I said, “I won your helmet.” She said, “Oh my God, that’s so cool.” I told her all about when I saw her when I was younger. She’s retired now, but she was one of the best. I’ve got all my trophies presented, and I’ve put Tessa’s helmet in there as well.
“When the last World Baseball Classic (baseball’s World Cup) happened in 2023, no one paid attention to Great Britain baseball until they won a game. When they won that game, they had less than 18 hours left in the tournament. So we had an 18 hour window to take advantage of their first win, and all these great articles were written, and they were all published after the team was on its way home. So turning these fireworks moments, as we call them, into recruitment is the number one thing for the Olympics in 2028.”