Aged 30 and 31 respectively, Eden and Virgile Laberthe form one of the most prominent couples in the world in the field of twirling, an often misunderstood discipline that combines dance, gymnastics and the handling of one or more sticks.
Eden has indeed won the World Cup after being European champion.
Virgile is double world champion and triple European champion.
Read also Stick twirling, a sport derived from majorettes with an Olympic dream
However, after ending their career in 2017, they chose the small club of Ouistreham (Calvados), to start a new adventure as coaches.
“It was a small club of course, with only about ten licensees, but we knew that several of them had real potential.
Today, we are more than a hundred and we are now preparing some and some of these Norman athletes for the next World Championships to be held in August in Liverpool with real hopes of a title!
“explains Virgil.
“With our choreographies, we are far from the image of majorettes”
Virgile Laberthe, coach of the Ouistreham twirling club
Suffice to say that this "small" Ouistreham club is experiencing a meteoric rise.
“We have implemented very innovative choreographies with contemporary music.
We are now very far from the image of majorettes that twirling has sometimes conveyed.
And it pays since one of our artistic groups has already won the European Cup and a title of champion of France!
“This exceptional trajectory of the Norman club that has become great is obviously the envy.
No less than fifty clubs in France, but also in Switzerland, Italy and Spain hope to attract the services of the magical couple.
Australia asks for them
The Laberthes even took off on Tuesday for Australia.
The national federation of the southern hemisphere has also asked them to prepare contemporary choreography for its athletes, also with a view to the next World Championships.
Their Australian “twirlers” could therefore find themselves in competition with the athletes of Ouistreham.
“It's not a problem for us, explains Virgile.
The important thing is that it is one of our athletes who wins.
For the rest, we do not favor anyone.
We try to pull each and everyone up in the best possible conditions to obtain the best possible level.
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