Some have seen their Olympic dreams collapse with the global pandemic, and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics for a year. Others, on the other hand, were able to take advantage of this additional time to strengthen their ambitions. Among these big winners, stands out the duo made up of Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue, who will represent France in the mixed doubles event of badminton. Not really a French specialty, in a discipline where France is still looking for a first Olympic medal, which Hongyan Pi had glimpsed in Beijing in 2008 before losing in the quarterfinals to the future winner, the Chinese Zhang Ning. But since then, despite a few scattered exploits by Brice Leverdez or the naturalization of Xuefei Qi, it is difficult for the Blue (s) to imagine themselves.interfere in the hearts of Asians and other Danes. Until the emergence, therefore, of the Gicquel-Delrue tandem ...
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We are clearly one of the big winners of the postponement because it gave us more time to work well, to progress.
Thom gicquel
At the start of 2020, the two young badists - they are both 22 years old - pointed to a promising 22nd place in the world, but which offered them nothing other than a hope of qualifying for the Olympic high mass. But today, it is in the costume of world number 10 that the mixed doubles will enter the track this Saturday against the British Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith. With a completely different status. "
We are clearly one of the big winners of the postponement because it gave us more time to work well, to progress and gain a little experience and maturity
", analyzed Gicquel just a few days before flying to Tokyo. "
Everything will be complicated at such a level, but everything will be possible too.
We are going there to take game after game, with the idea of winning them all.
»Which does not look easy against the Thais Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai, 2nd in the world but whom they beat once in three confrontations.
Associated by a happy coincidence
But beyond the results they will obtain during these Games, Gicquel and Delrue are already realizing a dream. Especially for the first one who told us: “
The Games, I've been dreaming about since I was 9 or 10 years old. I remember the Beijing Games, which were the first I watched. That's when I told myself I wanted to do this when I was older. I remember having followed the French badiste Erwin Kehlhoffner, who had reached the round of 16. At the time, it was already super stylish and I remember his face after his victories, and I had chills in front of the television.
“It must be said that unlike his partner, Gicquel was immersed in this sport from an early age since almost all his family was involved in it.
Delrue, she came there more by chance, but the two started at the same age, at 7 years old.
Before, ten years later, to be a partner in mixed doubles, again by a happy combination of circumstances since at the time of joining Insep in 2016, neither of them had a partner.
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“
It worked well straight away,
” recalls the native of Sarcelles. “
We hit it off right away on the pitch and from our first tournaments we got good results.
However, it was not necessarily in doubles that Gicquel imagined a golden future. “
I preferred the simple but mentally it was wrong. I moaned a lot, I was a sore loser and there were times when I could throw a game off when it didn't work out in my favor, which I wouldn't allow myself to do with a teammate. And then my game is more suitable for doubles because I like it when things go fast, when I can hit hard.
The victories then finally convinced him to continue in this direction. With a first good performance in 2019 by winning the bronze medal at the European Games in Minsk.
But the real click came in March of this year, when they won the final of the Swiss Open, their first in the Super 300 category. A title synonymous with ascension into the World Top 10, (high) spheres unknown by France in mixed doubles. Afterwards, from there to openly ambitioning for a medal, there is still a step that Gicquel does not quite dare to take. “
It’s true that our latest results have come together well. We are on a constant progression but the Games are the next step, with only big matches. Winning a medal will be complicated but we do not forbid ourselves anything.
"A beginning of optimism shared by her teammate:"
We know we have the ability to beat World Top 5 pairs, since we have already done so. We are confident in our game, in our potential and we really want to go as far as possible by giving the maximum.
"
