The first time I realized I had a twin was when we started kindergarten. To avoid us being stuck together all the time, the teachers placed us in two different classes, a common practice when twins arrive at a school. Throughout our elementary school years, we developed in parallel, never stepping on each other’s toes. I would see her when I came home from school and we would spend the afternoons playing like two friends.
Anna and I were born on 20 August 2000 in Sallanches (Haute-Savoie), near Mont Blanc. We are identical twins and we look very much alike: the same cheerful blue eyes, the same brown hair, the same contagious smile. However, our personalities are very different. I am rather soft, almost malleable. Anna is much more down-to-earth, very sensible and honest.
I wouldn’t say we’re close, but we get along really well, like very close sisters. In Chamonix, where we live, children quickly become immersed in a sporting environment and can try out a whole range of disciplines. At the age of 8, we discovered dancing and snowboarding at the same time.
In collision
This is where things get complicated. Our lives collide. We become one and the same person. We have the same friends, the same classes, the same training. At university we both started sports studies to continue snowboarding at a high level. Everywhere we go we are called “Kim and Anna”. We are inseparable. On the sporting level it is even worse. Throughout high school, I was better than Anna at snowboarding. I win more races and titles. My sister is demoralized, but she keeps trying to beat me up.
During a parallel giants competition in third grade, we face each other for the umpteenth time. The principle is simple: two competitors compete on snowboards on two parallel courses; the first person to reach the end of the track wins. Since I am the one with the best time, I have the right to choose the route I want. There is always one track that is faster than the other. This is the one I choose. At the end of the course, on the starting grid, as we are about to set off, Anna begs me to show her the easiest way. “You know you’re going to win anyway” she tells me with tears in her eyes. But for me, the only thing that counts is the competition. Sister or not, she is an adversary.
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