At first, when Gaillard was a child, skiing was not his favourite sport.. he started with football, track and field, table tennis, swimming.. but after some years, he realised that he had no chance in these different sports and started skiing more seriously at the age of 14...even if he says that he was bad at the begining, he really enjoyed to be outside in the mountains and to glide on the snow.. he also liked to push himself over the limits!
After some years of training, Gaillard claimed victory in the French Junior Championships in 1999 and scored his first World Cup points in 2002 in Nove Mesto...Until 2006, his results were average for different reasons.. Starting with the Olympic Games in Torino (11th place over 50 km), he really started to continuously be present in the World Cup circuit...so far he has mostly good memories looking back at his career with the World Cup win in Liberec 2008 over 15 km free and several podiums with the French relay team...at the 2010 Olympics he was a member of the French relay team that finished 4th... 2011 he could finish for the third time in a row among the top 6th in the Tour de Ski ( 2011:6th; 2010: 5th, 2009: 6th)
Top Athlete About
... Gaillard says he is still hungry for more and wants to improve in the next years with special focus on the Tour de Ski and later on the World Champs and Olympic Games
… is now one of the leader in the French team after the retirement of Vincent Vittoz, as well as his long-term coach, Roberto Gal, left after the season
... in 2002, he finished his formation as a customs officer
... sometimes he is taking care of his two sisters’ (Emmanuelle and Loetitia) children.
... he is interested in various sports that he likes to follow (for example cycling)
... he dreams of building his own house in the future
... his hobbies are going to the cinema, spend lot of time in the mountains, travelling..
… website: www.jeanmarcgaillard.com/
