It's not really a surprise but it's now official.
The new national technical director (DTN) of French athletics is called Patrick Ranvier.
After the departure of DTN Patrice Gergès on January 1st and that of Anne Barrois (appointed by interim) after the Tokyo Games, it was Philippe Leynier who acted as DTN.
“At the end of the application process followed by the hearings conducted by a recruitment committee made up of the Sports Directorate, the National Sports Agency (ANS), the DTN association and the French Athletics Federation , the choice of the Minister Delegate in charge of Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, fell on Patrick Ranvier with regard to the project for the development of French athletics which he defended during the interviews, of his experience in Olympic disciplines of summer and winter, of his mastery of the function of DTN which he exercised within three large federations and of his in-depth knowledge of the State in his capacity as Inspector General ”, writes the minister's office. sports delegate in a press release.
The position had been open since last summer but the appointment was delayed due to both tensions between the ANS and the FFA and the sudden departure of the former track cycling champion Florian Rousseau, who was in charge of the high performance at the federation.
I am delighted with the appointment of Patrick Ranvier by the Ministry of Sports.
His arrival will allow us to continue the work of structuring our technical team and lead the development projects of @FFAthletisme https://t.co/OK7yUi6ge8
- André GIRAUD (@PresidentFFA) December 3, 2021
In the end, only two candidates remained in the running: Patrick Ranvier, ex-DTN in rowing (from 2013 to last March), motorcycle or ice sports, and Grégory Saint-Génies, ex-DTN in water skiing and wakeboarding.
The duo were auditioned on November 3 by an ad hoc committee headed by the sports directorate of the ministry and made up of two members of the sports directorate, two representatives of the ANS, the president of the FFA André Giraud and a representative of the association of DTNs.
Romain Barras, performance director?
A first call for candidates had been launched in July then a second published at the start of the school year, officially because of the low number of applicants.
A time in the running, Vincent Rognon (director of the French Federation of University Sports) and Mickaël Romezy had withdrawn their candidatures.
The appointment of Ranvier is a small victory for the FFA.
The ANS was indeed opposed to this choice.
“The new DTN will have to form its team in the next few days and in particular define a technical organization with the support of the teams of the High Performance unit of the Agency headed by Claude Onesta who will follow the federation step by step on its journey to Paris
(the 2024 Olympics)
, continues the ministry.
A sports performance director will soon be appointed alongside Patrick Ranvier.
"
It should be the former decathlete Romain Barras, who temporarily occupies the post since the unexpected departure of Rousseau.
As a reminder, the Blues of the athlete signed in Tokyo their worst Olympic record since the Sydney Olympics in 2000 with only one medal (Kevin Mayer's silver in the decathlon).
