REPORTAGE
Could Didier Gailhaguet be fixed on his fate today? A federal council is to be held on Saturday morning and some of the members wish the departure of the president of the ice sports federation, who, until now, has refused to resign after the revelations on sexual violence committed for more than thirty years. It is in this tense context that this weekend in Charleville-Mézières is held the French junior figure skating championship. And around the ice, parents do not have the same vision of the freedom of speech, or the retention of Didier Gailhaguet.
"We hear stuff"
Patricia is the mother of an 18-year-old skater who competes with 50 other young people aged 15 to 18 this weekend in the Ardennes. "I assure you that when you see what's going on, it hurts your stomach for all the children and all the parents", she confides to Europe 1. From the stands, she looks at her son, that for 10 years, it has been supporting daily, breaking the ice. "I said to myself 'it's not too early'," she replies when asked about the revelations of former skater Sarah Abitbol about the actions of her ex-trainer Gilles Beyer.
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"We talked about one, two or three cases, but I think it's much more important than that," said Patricia. "Once again, there are noises from the hallway, there are things being said, we hear things. When you see young girls arriving all skinny when three months ago they were in the flesh… Up , they make sure it’s just hallway noises. "
What shocks Patricia in this affair is the coldness of the authorities and Didier Gailhaguet. "Not once do they think about children, to question themselves," she criticizes. "It's still huge, it's our children that we entrust. Do we leave them or not? If we can't trust them because up there, the machine doesn't follow, and bah qu 'so it goes, let it go.'
"Sarah Abitbol shouldn't have spoken"
Not everyone in Charleville-Mézières agrees. Few parents, in any case, agree to answer questions about a possible retention of Didier Gailhaguet. "I am afraid of reprisals for my son who has to make the Olympics," admits this mother. "I don't want to get my club in trouble," said another.
There are also those who prefer to save Didier Gailhaguet. "I don't want to personalize its president, he has obvious responsibilities like all presidents, no more no less," concedes Pierre, one of the parents present at the junior championships. "Everything that brings children together attracts those who want to hurt them ... But again, it's not skating, it's all sports." In this environment, the stigma of skating annoys the parents most involved. "Sarah Abitbol should not have spoken," dares a mother. "Now it hurts us."