The Olympic dream sometimes comes at a price. Six months before the Tokyo Games, the fight is raging within certain blue collectives who offer only one ticket. In windsurfing, Pierre Lecoq, Louis Giard and Thomas Goyard will be decided after the Worlds at the end of February (23-29) in Melbourne (Australia). The first two won a world bronze medal in the Olympiad, the third distinguished in the pre-Olympic event. All three can claim the podium in Tokyo.
Same canoe cruelty where the reigning Olympic champion (Denis Gargaud), the last world champion (Cédric Joly) and the European vice-champion (Martin Thomas) will compete for the only ticket at the European Championships, the May 15, in London. "You're not well in the morning, you catch a cold and it's over," sums up Denis Gargaud, experienced in the exercise since he found himself in the same situation during the three previous Olympiads. He stayed home twice (beaten by Tony Estanguet) and won the gold the time he escaped. "I may be used to it, it remains something very painful to live with," admits the Marseillais.
"The stakes are such, it's impossible to work together"
The three windsurfers and the three windsurfers have in common that they have ended up opting for individual projects. "We were training together and the group exploded, each wanted to put a maximum of chances on its side, specifies Pierre Le Coq, the only one to remain entirely in the federal fold. We have known each other for a long time, relations are cordial but with the approaching selection, there is bound to be more tension, each trying to create a circle with people of trust. "The competition is tough, we all have the same objective and group operations had become complicated, admits Louis Giard, now in a private structure (partly funded by the federation). We have also entered a period when we no longer want to indulge, to give balls to our opponents. "
"The stakes are such, it's impossible to work together, admits Cédric Joly, 24. With Martin and Denis, we trained together during the pre-Olympics in Tokyo. I loved it but when we left, we said to ourselves : Well, we did it because the deadline is still far but it will not happen again ! "
Denis Gargaud lived the whole Olympiad, alone in Marseille. “It would have been unhealthy to be forced to collaborate with opponents who are looking for the same thing as me. I am empathetic, I cannot be friends with people whom I want to beat ”, he justifies, before resuming. "All this is not our war, it is not us who make the rules, if we could, we would all represent France in Tokyo. The system wants an Olympic champion, he doesn't care about the name, only, we're humans. We don't want to shoot each other, we just want to make our dreams come true. "
"It would have been unhealthy to be forced to collaborate with opponents"
The competition, Cédric Joly, suffered, especially since before this final fight three, the céistes had to go through preselections. "Last summer, I felt like I was freediving, I was on the verge of depression," said the former student at Sciences-po. I said stop, in two weeks, I left Pau for Vaires-sur-Marne and resumed a life as an intern at Insep ”. It was a few weeks before I became world champion. "I put so much pressure on myself for this selection that I was no longer able to accept failure, it had become destructive," he says.
"Accepting to question an operation that has brought you a lot to put a maximum of assets on your side is a complicated choice, admits windsurfers Louis Giard. We do it in particular because we don't want to have regrets. "At the end, there is one who laughs while all the others cry," sums up Denis Gargaud, barred on the road to London in 2012 by Tony Estanguet. "I was a maso, I went to see Tony to get the gold. We are placed in a system where we become almost jealous of those who succeed. And yet, these are not my values. "
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"We can easily get lost in the operation, personally if I do not go to the Olympics, I will not get any resentment," promises Louis Giard. “The great champions have a moral code, a bit like in the mafia. We can kill each other but we don't touch the family! "Laughs Denis Gargaud. "If we shoot ourselves in the legs, it is not a Frenchman who will be Olympic champion, warns Cédric Joly. However, with the heritage that the previous generations have left us (Editor's note: 4 of the last 5 Olympic titles in C1 were won by a Frenchman) , we must also ensure that whoever leaves for Tokyo comes back with the gold. "
