Eyes On The Prize

Delphine Cousin Questel Taking It One Step at a Time, But Has Eyes on 3rd World Title

Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) holds a perfect record on the 2018 Women’s PWA Slalom World Tour after winning both stops on the Asian leg of the tour in Japan and South Korea. 

Cousin Questel’s dominant start has seen her win 4 out of the 7 eliminations completed, while the 26-year-old has only finished outside the top 2 once, which now put hers on the verge of a third world title with only the finale to go in Portugal - starting 13th June. With not long to go before the final women’s slalom event of the year we caught up with Delphine for an interview:

Hey Delphine, you made a perfect start to the season with back-to-back victories in Japan and South Korea… you must be delighted with how the Asian leg of the tour has gone?

Yes, I am really happy about the beginning of my season! I couldn’t do better so now I am waiting for the final which takes place already in 1 week!

You’ve now won the last 3 events on the world tour after winning in New Caledonia at the end of last season as well… and you have a 200 point lead of Lena Erdil in the race for the 2018 world title… how are you feeling heading into Portugal in a couple of weeks time?

I feel me confident. Everything is alright with my gear - Starboard and S2 Maui - so now I have to be focus to do my best! 

What will you be doing before Portugal and did you celebrate after winning both of the opening events?

I come to Costa Brava before Portugal because I share my van with my husband Antoine Questel and those 2 events are really close. I hope we will have some good thermic wind and I can sail while the guys compete. 

I didn’t celebrate my 2 first victories, I prefer waiting after Portugal to see if I could celebrate a 3rd World Title…

In Korea, we saw a couple of new names win an elimination on the world tour for the first time… what do you think of the standard on the women’s tour at the moment?

Since several years now there are more and more Women on the tour and it’s a really good thing! More women spend time for training in winter and the level is higher each year! In France, there are more and more girls who practice slalom so it’s a very good news for the future! 

Have you let yourself think about winning your 3rd world title or are you still just trying to take it one race and one event at a time?

I would like to stay focus event after event but of course I am thinking about this possible 3rd World Title! But with no discard this year everything and anything can happen in Portugal so I can’t make any mistakes if I want to realise this dream to win a new World Title!

Thanks, Delphine. Good luck in Portugal.

You can track Delphine’s Cousin Questel’s progress in her quest for World title No.3 by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com between 13th-20th June. The Men's Slalom and Women's Freestyle fleets will also be in action.