Marie Patouillet in gold: from “total disarray” to the title via discomfort, the emotional day of para-cycling on the track

| September 1, 2024 | Health | No Comments

Marie Patouillet in gold: from "total disarray" to the title via discomfort, the emotional day of para-cycling on the track

Marie Patouillet a enflammé le vélodrome de Saint-Quentin en Yvelines. MAXPPP – LP/Olivier Arandel

Marie Patouillet a remporté la médaille d’or devant l’autre Française Heïdi Gauguin ce dimanche 1er septembre, alors que leur compatriote Anne-Sophie Centis se faisait disqualifier quelques minutes plus tôt.

Before the glory, tears and triumph of the duo Marie Patouillet and Heïdi Gauguain, respectively gold and silver medallists in the C5 pursuit, the French delegation experienced a sad moment of embarrassment. Anne-Sophie Centis and her pilot Elise Delzenne were disqualified in the tandem pursuit.

Beyond the – logical – decision of the judges, it was the manner that surprised. As soon as the starting gun of their race was given, the duo quickly rolled on the wooded part at the foot of the track, which is forbidden. Why ? Elise Delzenne felt the bike vibrate and feared a mechanical problem.

“We are in total disarray”

After several minutes of incomprehension, the manager of the French para-cycling team, Laurent Thirioniet (7 Paralympic medals), explained what had happened: “Anne-So took off her shoes, Élise didn't didn't necessarily understand. The bike was twisting a bit in all directions, there were only three points of support left. Élise thought there was a problem with the crankset, with the wheel, because it was moving, but it was just Anne-So, behind, who was trying to reclip her pedal”, he explains at first.

Elise then went down, wrongly, on the wooden part which is horizontal. "The judges like us, they still tried to see if they could get us going again by finding a mechanical problem. But there wasn't one, it was a small human error on the wrong day", adds Thirionet.

“Elise's reaction is completely normal. I tried to tell her that everything was fine but with the noise, we couldn't hear anything. It's a huge misfortune, we are in total disarray. We were really in shape, we had good legs, we were in the running for a medal, it's really very hard. We weren't able to express ourselves in front of our audience” regretted Anne-Sophie Centis.

A cold snap among the Blues, a few seconds before the qualifications for the C5 pursuit final. “My heart was broken for them. It took me out of my bubble a bit. I tried not to dwell on it too much to stay focused”, commented Marie Patouillet after the race.

Gauguin cracked

Apparently, Grégory Baugé's protégé, who had announced that she was ending her career after this race, was not really disturbed. At 36, the one who was born with a malformation of her left foot that prevented her leg from developing, leaves the slopes at the top of Olympus.

Announced as weaker on paper than Heïdi Gauguin, world champion in the disabled and able-bodied categories and 17 years her junior, she achieved a time of 3,35,691 in the final. Gauguin, huge in qualification (3,33,881), cracked (3,37,723). “It's going to take a little time to digest everything that happened”, Patouillet confided, almost embarrassed to dominate her friend, her roommate.

Gauguin, who announced that he wanted to return to the able-bodied after the “Paras”, was unable to hold back his tears. “I feel like I lost the gold, not won the silver. I don't know what happened, we'll see what happens next”, she confided. On the podium, she couldn't hide her disappointment. While at the same time, in the middle of the Marseillaise, Patouillet was feeling unwell… “There was nothing going on this podium”, Gauguin, who had her left arm amputated and will try to make up for it in the road races, ended up smiling.

For their part, the French Alexandre Léauté, Gastien Le Rousseau and Kévin Le Cunff finished 4th in the team sprint.

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