He would have liked to put on his tricolor jumpsuit, but an ulcer in his left eye has left him half blind for four days already.
Maxime Pauty is sorry, but he nevertheless honored his appointment at Insep on Monday, in order to tell what the foil player of the France team is experiencing on a daily basis with his teammates.
Like the latter, the 27-year-old athlete has not officially shot since… February 23, 2020. A real ordeal for this born competitor, who takes his troubles patiently.
And he is going to need it, the date and place of the only qualifying event for the Tokyo Games still not known.
Initially scheduled for Budapest, it is likely to take place in Doha at the end of March.
The male foilists of the France group in training. / LP / Christophe Lacaze-Eslous
“The FIE
(Editor's note: international federation)
assured himself that it would take place, persuades himself the 2019 European vice-champion in individual.
This is essential because even if our team is already qualified, we do not yet know who will go there.
We all have this visceral need for competition.
Winning titles, satisfying my loved ones, that's what drives me.
I am one of the few who let go more in competition than in training.
It is not the fear of defeat that drives me, but the pleasure of victory.
"
Last March, the Anaheim Grand Prix, in the suburb of Los Angeles, was canceled due to the virus, while all the fencers were already present.
Three days later, France followed in the footsteps of its neighbors and confined itself.
"We have all learned to anticipate each postponement that falls since the first deconfinement," explains Maxime Pauty.
From Anaheim, I tell myself that anything can happen.
I no longer set a target date.
"
"We are all together in this quagmire"
"When we look at the evolution of the curves of the disease, we say to ourselves that it is very complicated, estimates the Melunais Wallerand Roger, 22, who knocks on the door of the adults.
Personally, this year has passed quickly.
I did things that would have taken longer, like getting my driver's license.
I also looked more for the pleasure of training.
The atmosphere is better in the group.
We are all together in this quagmire.
"
"The atmosphere is better in the group", judge Wallerand Roger./LP/Christophe Lacaze-Eslous
Positive.
Julien Mertine, 32, also keeps morale: "It was very hard before last summer," explains the member of Rueil.
We didn't know anything and we couldn't do anything.
Fortunately, we are lucky to be able to train and to be a group of 12 top athletes.
Apart from Italy, I believe that France is the only nation to have this chance.
And everyone has progressed and remains motivated thanks to our coaches.
"
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This Monday, they are eight for a session of duels.
Enzo Lefort, the reigning world champion, stayed at home in septaine.
Maxime Pauty, he passes into the hands of the physiotherapist: “I remain very focused on my daily task.
Thanks to my club in Issy and the Army of Champions
(Editor's note: where he is a gendarme)
, I am lucky to be able to put food in the fridge.
The situation teaches us to stay in the present and to be as diligent as possible.
With the Covid, I became aware of the essentials.
I feel like I have evolved as an individual.
"
