The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Kevin Gourdon on the end of his career: "It is not much use to ruminate and be disgusted"

2021-12-22T16:43:12.154Z


Forced to stop his career at 31 due to a heart problem, the former third row spoke at length about his career, his loyalty to Stade Rochelais and the post-career he imagines.


How were the last days before the announcement of the end of his career?


Kévin Gourdon:

I will not answer questions about my heart problem, it is in the private domain.

It concerns me and my family.

I know you have a lot of questions on this.

(...) I learned about it last Friday, following an additional exam I had taken in Paris.

We were then awaiting the results.

I had been prepared for this for some time.

So it's a little easier to digest.

(...) It's always sad not to choose your exit.

But there are plenty who do not choose it and this does not mean that the story was not beautiful.

To discover

  • Calendar and results Top 14

  • Ranking Top 14

Read alsoTop 14: Rochelais Kevin Gourdon forced to retire because of a heart problem

Did you suspect this pathology?


Already, I am doing very well physically.

It's just that it forces me to stop intense efforts, and therefore top-level sport.

For my health, I am no longer able to make strenuous efforts, which cause the heart rate to rise.

Other than that, I can have a normal life, I just have to be careful about that factor.

(...) Potentially, it will require an operation if it continues to worsen as it is the case here.

But for now, this is not on the agenda.

How did the announcement go to your teammates and your staff?


It happened naturally, from the moment I was no longer on the game sheets, we started to ask questions.

It was normal that I kept my partners informed on the situation.

Most were almost in the know and we were waiting for this last result to know if it could do it or not.

That was not the case.

I announced to them verbally and officially Monday.

A few years ago, I got a little fed up with rugby.

I wouldn't say it's timely because I had resigned and wanted to win a title

Kevin Gourdon

How did you experience this decision?


It's paradoxical, there is absolutely nothing I can do to change this situation. There is nothing I could have done differently to make the result different. In relation to that, I have no particular regrets. It's this way and only this way. It doesn't help much to ruminate on this and be disgusted. I'm even rather happy to switch to something new. A few years ago, I got a little fed up with rugby. I wouldn't say it came at the right time because I had resigned and wanted to win a title, but the journey ends a little earlier than expected. It's not like I'm 21, I'm 10 older. The answer would have been different if I had been younger. (...) To stay in touch with the group,I will help them with everything that I have been able to practice well as a rugby player: attitudes in contact, reading the game, things like that ... If players want to discuss it, we can try to improve these aspects of their game. It will allow me to stay with the group until the end of the season, hoping for a good outcome. We will try, for me it is normal to pass on what we have learned.

Have you ever thought about your second life after rugby?


I had done a skills assessment at the start of the year. To prepare for the future and know what we could switch to. Strangely enough, we wait for someone to tell us something that is the opposite of who we are, that I could have been a pastry chef or a photographer, for example. (Laughs) But we're refocusing on sport. What came out was transmission and help to people.

You have always appeared to be quite detached from the world of rugby.

Does this help you come to terms with this abrupt stop?


Yes completely.

If you take someone who eats and lives rugby, it's much harder to digest.

I have always had a special relationship with that environment.

It stops today but I am not devastated.

I know my new life is going to be great, fulfilling.

It was important to know that it was going to end someday.

It doesn't matter how it ends.

The day it stops, you have to move on.

Life is super interesting on the other side.

It is the human adventure that will miss me.

Rugby in itself, no, because it's a bit of an idiotic sport anyway!

Kevin Gourdon

Have you thought about your case when Argentinian footballer Kun Aguero recently had to quit his career due to a heart problem?


No, I didn't think about that when I could have drawn the parallel.

It wasn't in my head.

As long as I didn't have a full red light, it was still good in my head.

(...) For me, there is no hope of a return, it is better this way.

You must not force your luck.

I have experienced a lot of great things with rugby.

It's a third of my life.

When it has to stop, don't force fate.

At no time in the field, did I ask myself any questions.

To read also Thuram, Savidan, Casillas ... Like Agüero, they said stop due to a heart problem

What regrets can you have?


The big regret is having a career without earning anything. Unfortunately, it's a bit sad. It's like working for nothing. Afterwards, I received a lot of messages, I was very touched. Basically, the plan was not to play 10 years, to play so much. In the end, everything happened naturally and I had the chance to make more than 200 matches with Stade Rochelais. It's incredible. I am very happy with this longevity. With the body I had, plus the little heart (Smile) It was complicated but we did well. (...) I don't know what I'm going to miss, I was passionate about the matches, that's what I'm going to miss. The stories of men too, how we build a season. It is the human adventure that will miss me. Rugby in itself, no,because it's a bit of an idiotic sport anyway! Especially when you play in front. If you can avoid putting out just that sentence, I know you journalists! (Laughs) I'm kinda freewheeling for the last interview. I will miss the men ...

You have accompanied the rise of La Rochelle ...


Afterwards, when you go to see the trophy cabinet in the president's office, there is a little dust ... It is in this vein that I say that. But I am very happy to have accompanied the development of the club. When you see where we were, it's incredible how far we've come. A final is an exceptional moment, but I don't live for chocolate medals. We could be satisfied with that but me, it's not my thing. I would have liked the medals that shine. (...) My best memory in club remains the final of accession in Top 14 (against Agen 2014). It was stratospheric, really. And the return to the port was the Champions League ...

During my last three selections for the French team during a tour of New Zealand, I had the worst rugby match of my life.

And the next week the best game of my life

With Patrice Collazo, you went from Pro D2 to the France team ...


I owe him a lot, like Fabrice Ribeyrolles (former three-quarter coach. Editor's note).

It's a bit thanks to him that I was able to make this career at Stade Rochelais.

He had trained me in Hopes and he had spoken about me to Patrice and (to the president) Vincent Merling.

My outbreak was then done with Patrice, kicking the club.

(Laughs) I sure needed that.

Afterwards, I experienced different managements and it was also very good.

You have also worn the XV of France jersey 19 times ...


It is a very beautiful passage in my career. There is also Guy (Novès, former coach of the Blues) who sent me a message. I told him it was one of the best moments in my rugby career. (...) Unfortunately, we didn't win much. I remember all this passage in blue. It was great, a golden parenthesis. (...) During my last three selections for the French team during a tour of New Zealand, I had the worst rugby match of my life. And the next week, the best game of my life. When I played my worst game, I was catastrophic ... It was very hard for my self-esteem and for my rugby to tell me that I had been so bad. With La Rochelle,the last final (Top 14 against Toulouse) was very hard to digest. In the last fifteen minutes, you know that whatever you do, you lost ... I devastated.

What image would you like people to keep of you?


It's not for me to say ... You take what you want.

I don't know, it's nothing.

Beyond rugby, the man is more important, in my opinion.

Rugby is factual, technical, another area.

What's great about rugby is that we make friends all over the place, we meet people, they become friends who stay in the long term.

When I received all these messages, it reinforced my idea.

What bothers me the most is being restricted in terms of sport.

I don't want to become a big paupiette,

Kevin Gourdon

If you had to change something, what would it be?


Complicated ... Would I do it differently? It worked pretty well. If I had to talk to Kevin from 10 years ago, maybe I would tell him a couple of things.



You had completed training in masonry. Do you think you will continue along this path?


I can no longer carry heavy things. I still have quite a few restrictive restrictions. What bothers me the most is being restricted in terms of sport. I don't want to become a big paupiette, unfortunately we are going to get closer ... Even if I will be careful. It is these restrictions that are the most annoying, more than stopping rugby. After that I have 50 beautiful years to live. I have personal projects with my wife, maybe I'll talk about them later. I graduated to run a dog farm, but this is not the conversion that I am going to do. Coach? At the moment, this is not the project that I have. Transmit and help, yes. But coaching is even harder than playing. The hours are harder,the pressure is clearly there. After that, you can never know ... I'm going to make a career in neuroscience, to be a neuropedagogue. Basically, it's how to better use your brain to optimize its performance. It's something very fresh, an area that interests me. It's a tool that can help me do what I love. There are also things about stress and anxiety.

Interview by videoconference

Source: lefigaro

All sports articles on 2021-12-22

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.