Mathilde Gremaud was born February 8, 2000, in Fribourg, Switzerland, into a family where skiing wasn’t optional—it was life. Her father Stéphane Gremaud, a former alpine ski racer and multi-sport coach, put her on skis at age two. Her mother Chantal Gremaud supported the family’s athletic pursuits while raising three daughters in the small municipality of La Roche, nestled in the Gruyère region at the foot of La Berra ski station.
At 26 years old, Mathilde has become one of the most dominant freestyle skiers in history—three Olympic medals, multiple X Games golds, world championships, and tricks that redefined what female athletes thought physically possible.
Growing Up Gremaud: Three Sisters and a Trampoline
Stéphane and Chantal Gremaud raised three daughters in La Roche: Jeanne (the oldest), Mathilde (middle child), and Elsa (youngest). Both parents are natives of La Roche, building their family in the same mountain community where they grew up.
Stéphane works as a postal carrier in Bulle while Chantal managed the household and supported their daughters’ various athletic pursuits. “We moved a lot with our three girls, they loved it, we never forced them,” Stéphane told Swiss publication L’Illustré. He coached not just skiing but also football and athletics, creating a multi-sport environment.
The family’s backyard trampoline became legendary in Mathilde’s story. When she was five years old, Stéphane and Chantal watched through their kitchen window as Mathilde executed her first backflip without anyone teaching her. “She was the youngest of the kids playing. With my wife, we looked through the window, we couldn’t believe it!” Stéphane recalled.
That trampoline was destroyed years later during a storm on Stéphane’s father’s 80th birthday—”it flew like a flying saucer into a slope,” he remembered with a laugh—but by then Mathilde had moved far beyond backyard acrobatics.
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From Alpine Racing to Freestyle: The Family Influence
Stéphane’s background as an alpine racer meant weekends involved driving his daughters to nearby resorts for local competitions. Mathilde initially followed this path, participating in slalom and giant slalom races between gates, learning the fundamentals of speed and edge control that would later transfer to freestyle.
Around age 10, everything changed. Her cousin, a freestyle skiing enthusiast, showed her videos of Swiss freeskier Andri Ragettli performing tricks that looked more like gymnastics than skiing. The creativity captivated her immediately.
She began building her own jumps and rails near La Roche using just shovels and natural terrain features. “I started skiing close to my little village, far from the big snow parks,” she told Red Bull. “We used to build our own modules using shovels. We used to build our own spot with what nature had to offer. Of course, landings were not perfect! But I know where I come from thanks to those moments.”
Education and the Financial Sacrifice
Mathilde attended local schools in La Roche before her talent required more specialized training. After one year at Collège de Bulle, her parents faced a difficult decision: could they afford to send her to Sportmittelschule Engelberg, the prestigious sport-studies center in central Switzerland?
The cost was approximately 30,000 Swiss francs per year—a massive expense for a postal worker and homemaker. They found assistance through the Swiss Sports Aid Foundation, mobilized friends for support, and contributed from their own savings. “Without [Swiss Sports Aid], everything would have been difficult,” they acknowledged.
This investment paid off. Engelberg provided both academic education and access to world-class training facilities, coaches, and competition opportunities that La Berra’s small resort couldn’t offer.
Physical Stats and Athletic Build
According to official FIS records, Mathilde stands 165 cm tall (approximately 5’5″) and weighs 56 kg (about 123 pounds). Her compact, powerful build is ideal for freestyle skiing—strong enough to generate rotation for complex aerial tricks while remaining light enough for hang-time and control.
Beyond skiing, she pursued athletics (track and field) during summers, developing the explosive power and coordination that transfers directly to freestyle skiing. Her father noted she had “a nice style, a beautiful stride” in running events before skiing fully consumed her focus.
Career Milestones: From Teenager to Olympic Champion
At 16, Mathilde earned her first World Cup podium in Milan, announcing herself on the international stage. In 2017, at age 17, she won X Games gold in big air—the first of many.
The 2018 PyeongChang Olympics brought both triumph and concern. Mathilde had torn her ACL in 2017, forcing her to miss significant training time. She arrived at the Olympics having barely recovered, trained for the first time in months, and won silver in slopestyle at just 18 years and 9 days old—the youngest Olympic freestyle skiing medalist in history.
At the 2022 Beijing Olympics, she dominated. She won gold in slopestyle with a score of 86.56 and added bronze in big air. According to Olympics coverage, she became one of the most decorated freestyle skiers of her generation.
In 2023, she won world championship gold in slopestyle, becoming the first freestyle skier ever to simultaneously hold both Olympic and World Championship titles in the discipline.
The Historic Switch Double Cork 1440
On September 14, 2020, Mathilde made history by landing the first-ever female Switch Double Cork 1440—a trick so complex that explaining it requires technical skiing knowledge. Simplified: she launched backward, completed four full rotations while flipping twice off-axis, and landed cleanly.
“It opened plenty of doors for my career,” she told Red Bull. “It showed me what I was capable of, what’s possible. It also earned me a great deal of respect, which was cool.”
Four months later, in January 2021, she landed it in competition at X Games Aspen, winning gold and proving the trick wasn’t a one-time fluke.
Personal Life: Relationship with Vali Höll
Mathilde is in a relationship with Austrian downhill mountain biker Vali Höll, a three-time downhill world champion. The couple made their relationship public in 2024-2025, sharing moments together on social media.
In 2025, Mathilde announced plans to move from La Roche to Innsbruck, Austria, to be closer to Vali and better training facilities. “Not only to be closer to her girlfriend, but also closer to the parks,” she told Swiss publication Blick.
Their relationship represents a meeting of two gravity sports athletes who understand the risks, dedication, and mental challenges of extreme competition. Mathilde has never been married and has no children.
Life Beyond Competition
When not training or competing, Mathilde enjoys kayaking on Lake Gruyère, mountain biking on La Berra’s trails, wake surfing, hiking in the Gruyère mountains, and climbing the via ferrata of Moléson. She remains deeply connected to her home region, regularly returning to La Roche between competitions.
She’s pursuing a Master of Business Administration, balancing academic goals with athletic demands. She also practices energy therapy to maintain mental health—a necessity after experiencing emotional exhaustion following the Beijing Olympics.
Net Worth and Sponsorships
Mathilde’s estimated net worth is between $500,000 and $1.5 million, built through Swiss Ski Federation support, X Games prize money, World Cup earnings, Olympic medal bonuses (Switzerland provides substantial Olympic bonuses), and sponsorships with brands like Red Bull, Fischer Sports, and regional Swiss companies.
Freestyle skiing doesn’t generate mainstream sports wealth. Most income comes from sponsorships rather than prize money, and even the world’s best freeskiers aren’t building significant fortunes—they’re pursuing excellence in a sport they love.
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