- At the end of his career as a top sportsman, the former gymnastics champion Yann Cucherat became in 2014 the sports assistant to Gérard Collomb in Lyon.
- At 40, he is launched on the front line by LREM for municipal elections, his political mentor Gérard Collomb running for the metropolis.
- Several privileged witnesses describe for “20 Minutes” his astonishing professional retraining.
In January 2010, Yann Cucherat ahead of Hugo Lloris and received for the second time in a row the Golden Lion of sport from Gérard Collomb. "On the platform, he announced to me: 'We will let you finish your career and then you will join the municipal council'. At that time, I didn't even know what a municipal council was, "smiles the former gymnast, European champion on parallel bars in 2009 and 2010. Ten years later, the life of Yann Cucherat, too double medalist at the Melbourne World Championships in 2005, undoubtedly exceeded the political career plan that Gérard Collomb foresaw.
Because after having been the deputy mayor of Lyon delegate for sports, major events and tourism from 2014 (one year after his retirement from sport) to 2019, here he is a LREM candidate for mayor of Lyon. And this, by being dubbed by Gérard Collomb, who is at the same time running for the metropolis of Lyon.
"I was warned that I was arriving in a crazy machine"
"When I embarked on this new challenge in 2014, I really don't know where I'm going," recalls Yann Cucherat (40). I was warned that I was arriving in a crazy machine. But I did not discover this disparaged vision of politics at all. "The gymnast Cyril Tommasone (32), who has long rubbed shoulders with him at the Lyon Gymnastics Convention, is formal:" Yann has always followed the news a lot, on television and in the newspapers. Once he took the opportunity to be a sports assistant, the aftermath didn't really surprise me. ”
"In fact, Yann is interested in everything, people, news, life, and his professional transition has taken place in a natural way, confirms Dominique Mérieux, president of the Lyon Gymnastics Convention. He certainly does not have a lot of political experience but when you enter the arena of a world gym championship at the age of 18, and then you take part in four Olympic Games, it builds you a sacred character. "
"We may be dealing with our future President of the Republic! "
Relatives during his 25 years of gymnast praise "his hyper developed relational intelligence", "his taste for work" and "his humility". "During the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games that we lived together, Yann was the captain of the France team and he managed absolutely everything," says Cyril Tommasone. When I see how he always succeeds, I tell myself that we may be dealing with our future President of the Republic, who knows! "
After obtaining his sports technical advisor (CTS) competition, Yann Cucherat is also sports director of the French men's artistic gymnastics team from 2013 until the start of his campaign for municipal elections. "I'm not sure how he was able to find time to sleep, but he always knew how to surround himself with good people," said Pierre Coponat, technical director of the France gymnastics center in Lyon. This one welcomed Yann Cucherat at 10 years old coming from Jassans-Riottier (Ain) and he estimates that his former pupil has "the shoulders for this big jump of the municipal ones".
"He was chosen by Gérard Collomb for his docility"
"Very early on, Yann understood how our institutions work, and there is also a bit of politics in the world of gymnastics," he says. With his experience, Gérard Collomb must have felt that he was ready to ensure his succession, he has no interest in sending him to the pipe-breaker. Given his age and his very recent political career, he is aware that his candidacy is regularly decried.
" We'll get to know each other "
A speech # 3eEpisode # Cucherat2020 # Lyon2020 # AvecCollomb2020 #Carnetdecampagne pic.twitter.com/ylBnn35i9Q
"He was not a very good sports assistant," said a city councilor wishing to remain anonymous. Above all, he was a good student who saved money. He does not have the dimension to be mayor of Lyon and he was chosen by Gérard Collomb for his docility, because he is devoted. An observation shared by one of his opponents at the town hall, also preferring to testify in "off". “Yann Cucherat is a good guy. But Gérard Collomb dubbed him because he is much more insignificant and malleable than other potential candidates whose names circulated at one time, "he underlines. A direct reference to the president of Sytral Fouziya Bouzerda, a time presented as the favorite of Collomb. Faced with these criticisms, the interested party delivers his feelings.
Many people would like to be in my place. I do not check all the boxes but I had experience in town hall before seeking to be mayor. Who has greater notoriety and more experience of local life than I do? I'm not sure I'm light years away from the other candidates. I embody a new generation. Gérard Collomb prepared me for six years to transmit the torch to me. Before that, I worked for ten years to get a world medal, and there again, I did not check the boxes right away. "
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"Yann Cucherat could in no case be a puppet"
One of his challenges is to make voters understand that if he is very close to Gérard Collomb, he can very well impose his ideas. "The Yann I know is someone very loyal but he could in no case be someone's puppet, I have no doubt about it," says Dominique Mérieux. For all his detractors who believe that Yann Cucherat would step down from his possible post as mayor in the event of Gérard Collomb's defeat in the metropolis, the former sports assistant replied: “Gérard Collomb would not see the city as a consolation prize. Its issues concern the metropolis, I can assure you that there is no such agreement between us. But we have a common destiny: if he loses the metropolis, it means that I lose the city. "
Approaching these municipal elections, on March 15 and 22, Pierre Coponat also remembers “the very personal preparation” of the former high-level gymnast: “He has a big determination but he always competed by being pessimistic, by repeating to himself that he was not ready. It may have been a form of protection but he always came back with a medal. ”
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- municipal
- Lyon
- Sport
- Gymnastic
- LREM
- Gérard Collomb