Estelle Alphand
Estelle Alphand (born 23 April 1995) is a French-born Swedish alpine skier, who competes in all events. She was born in Briançon, France, and she is the daughter of the former alpine skier and rally driver Luc Alphand. She has represented Sweden since the start of the 2018 season, having previously competed for France.
| Alpine skier | |
 Estelle Alphand in Ushuaia, Argentina in October 2011 | |
| Disciplines | Slalom, giant slalom, super-G, downhill |
|---|---|
| Club | Åre SLK |
| Born | 23 April 1995 Briançon, France |
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| World Cup debut | 9 March 2013 (age 17) |
| Olympics | |
| Teams | 1 – (2018) |
| World Cup | |
| Seasons | 7 – (2013–2019) |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
Biography
Alphand, whose mother Anna-Karin is Swedish, took part in her first FIS races aged 15. In January 2011 she won her first competition on this level: an alpine combined in Tignes. One month later, she for the first time competed at the World Junior Championships. In February 2011 she entered the European Cup. Her first season concluded with Alphand becoming French junior champion in slalom. At the first Youth Winter Olympic Games in February 2012 in Innsbruck, Alphand won three medals: gold in super-G, and silver in both giant slalom and super combined.
During the following two winters, Alphand mostly competed in the European cup, where she in December 2012 premiered on the podium after a super combined in Kvitfjell. Her first appearance in the World Cup was in a giant slalom in Ofterschwang in March 2013. Her best result in the World Junior Championships was when she finished in 4th place in the downhill in Lillehammer in 2015. Alphand won her first World Cup points on 24 November 2015, finishing 21st in a giant slalom in Aspen.
During the 2017 season Alphand reached World Cup points only once, after which she fell out of the French national team. She then asked the French federation to allow her to compete for Sweden instead. After short negotiations she left France and is from the 2018 season a member of the Swedish team.[1] Changing teams proved to be a correct decision and Alphand soon advanced to starting positions at top-30 in both slalom and giant slalom. On 28 December 2017 she was 5th in the World Cup slalom of Lienz, and thereby reached her best World Cup finish.
References
- Laurent Davier (2 June 2017). "Estelle Alphand va skier pour la Suède" (in French). Ski Chrono. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
