Tokyo (AFP)
Strong impulsive head during his brilliant career as a triple jumper, Teddy Tamgho changed once the spikes hung up as the leader of a training structure with atypical functioning.
The man remained as agitated as before but during the competitions, his range of action is now limited to the stands.
Tuesday at the Olympic stadium in Tokyo, the former world champion (2013) came to supervise the debut of his Burkinabé colt Hugues-Fabrice Zango in qualifying for the triple jump while having an eye on another of his proteges, the young Frenchman Melvin Raffin (22 years old).
In Tokyo, Tamgho, member of the delegation of Burkina Faso, multiplies and plays the supervisor, a role in which he melted well before the end of a sporting career marred by injuries and finally interrupted death in the soul at only 30 years old in 2019.
In 2012, Tamgho began to provide advice to the hurdler Garfield Darien before expanding his circle and creating his own organization, first based near Boulouris before migrating to Reims, while keeping one foot in Insep. , in Paris.
- "Teamwork" -
Tamgho is the linchpin and the leader of "Team T", like "transmission", but the ex-champion prefers the term "pilot".
Teddy Tamgho during the 2018 French Championships, in Albi, July 7 PASCAL PAVANI AFP / Archives
"It's a team effort, he explains to AFP. There are a lot of people with me. I have an assistant, then for the hurdles there is the Darien family (Garfield and his father Daniel, editor's note), there is a doctor, a shrink, two physiotherapists, an osteopath. It's not Teddy alone. They are responsible as much as I am for the results. "
Which, moreover, are far from negligible: Zango stole from Tamgho this winter the world indoor record for the triple jump (18.07 m) and Melvin Raffin, third at the World Junior Championships in 2016, qualified. for the final at the Olympics just like Rouguy Diallo (9th overall).
"My goal is to make sure that the athlete succeeds in the best possible way in his career. I do not have a degree in psychology, medicine, physiotherapy, osteo or other, these are not my fields. I have notions about my thirst for knowledge and my experience as a high level athlete, but I am not a specialist. It's up to me to find the people who can help the athletes in their project ", details the former triple jumper, who On the other hand, takes care of the daily sessions with his deputy.
"I am a sports manager, he adds. It is I who make sure to find all the elements to bring the athlete to the performance. I have no problem with ego, if necessary talk to other coaches to make my athlete succeed, I do. "
- "You have to follow the plan" -
Tamgho, whose model is the charismatic American coach Rana Reider, however refutes the term "training structure", used in athletics, preferring to speak of "group".
He is also very evasive about his contractual ties with his foals.
Teddy Tamgho during the 2018 French Championships, in Albi, July 7 PASCAL PAVANI AFP / Archives
"The athlete approaches the referents who are there and he sees them directly for the remuneration. Me, I put them in relation. It is too delicate that I put my nose in. With Hugues-Fabrice Zango, there is a deal between him and me, "he says without giving more details.
"Teddy said to me: + you will give me what you want at the end of the year, + says the Burkinabé. We will see how to share the cake. There are no rules."
Despite this vagueness, what makes the difference in the eyes of the athletes of "Team T" is the incomparable aura and experience of their mentor.
"Tamgho, he has a plan and you have to follow this plan, it is directive, according to Raffin. We can sometimes mess around but it is often very serious. We work a lot. A coach who has not known the very high level does not could not say certain things, he can help us avoid mistakes he made. When I broke the world record for juniors indoors (in 2017, Editor's note), I saw that the work was working. wasn't even happy. He wanted to aim for something else. "
Never a medalist at the Olympics, Tamgho could obtain this happiness by proxy in Tokyo.
© 2021 AFP