Seventh in qualifying on Sunday, Martin Thomas entered the semi-final of the single-seater slalom on Monday morning, before hopefully going to play for a medal at the end of the day.
In this discipline where France has won four of the last five Olympic titles at stake, successfully qualifying for the Olympics is already a great victory in and of itself.
But we should not stop there, of course, and the Céiste de Jarnac is well aware of arriving in Tokyo with a whole heritage to defend.
From our special correspondent in Tokyo,
It is not easy to be the French representative in single-seater canoe slalom at the Olympic Games, a discipline privatized by France since its appearance on the program in 1992. We hardly add any more: only one failed podium in seven editions including four gold medals on the last five (thank you Tony), it gives you domination.
For these Olympics, the burden of bearing the weight of this glorious past falls to Martin Thomas.
A little surprise.
Without a major title on his record (he was vice-European champion in 2019), the 31-year-old Céiste de Jarnac edged out during the selections last October the reigning Olympic champion Denis Gargaud-Chenut and the world champion 2019 Cédric Joly, who started as favorites.
Almost a feat, in this specialty where we compete for the only ticket at stake like other televisions at the opening of the gates on the first day of sales.
And not without controversy, we will come back to this a little later.
"Being the heir to this story gives me energy"
“In France, we have one of the highest levels in the world in canoeing,” he notes. In seniors there are four or five to be at the highest level, and behind there are already young people who are pushing hard. We knew before this meeting that it would be complicated, that there would be tension. But I succeeded, so I know that behind I have the potential to go for what I want, namely an Olympic medal. We emerge stronger from these selections. "
So he left for Tokyo, where after having started soft in qualifying on Sunday (7th time), he entered this Monday in the semi-finals and then - we hope - in the final.
With the mission of perpetuating the tradition.
Pressure ?
“It's more of a motivation,” he corrects.
Tony Estanguet has been my idol since I started canoeing, it's God for me
(smile)
.
Knowing that I am the heir to this story, that I was able, too, to take this place, that gives me energy.
Representing France is not a burden but an honor.
"
Estanguet on video to motivate yourself
We understand that the three-time Olympic champion, now president of the Organizing Committee for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, holds a very special place in Thomas' career.
For the record, the latter still watches videos of certain races in the Palois.
“From him and other great champions of my sport,” he explains.
It motivates me, because that's what I aspire to.
It is thanks to them that I am here, so I continue.
"
There is one, in particular, well placed in his favorites bar: the World Cup round in Pau just before the London Games, where Estanguet won with nearly eight seconds ahead of the Polish Kiljanek.
"Huge, a real recital", describes Martin Thomas, his very clear eyes filled with admiration.
Cloistered in his room at the Olympic Village, he will have had time to iron it before the most important races of his career today. A way of making vibrate good vibes, while echoing in the background a little music not very pleasant. In short, was Martin Thomas the best placed to defend the French chances in slalom?
Nobody expressed it like that, of course, but the debates over the selection modalities and the poor performance of the elected official in recent weeks have raised tensions.
Denis Gargaud-Chenut and Cédric Joly had a bad experience of their failure.
We spare you the details, but the two men are angry with the Federation for having included in these events young céistes who had nothing more to play, and who therefore ran without pressure, succeeding at the finish of the fastest times. depriving the Olympics.
Joly's "hatred"
“I am not the sore loser who seeks to regain the place of the selected. Martin deserves his place. I have nothing to reproach either Jules [Bernardet, who beat him for half a second] who wanted to show that he was strong, I would have done the same at his age. Except that he should not have interfered in the classification of race three, regretted the 2016 Olympic champion in the columns of
L'Equipe
, a few days later. I have too many balls, (…) one cannot play like that with the life of the athletes. "
Joly himself admitted to having "hatred" against these "unfair rules of the game".
And even if they both said "very happy for Martin", we imagine that the climate would have benefited from being more serene.
Since then, Gargaud-Chenut has won at the European Championships, the only title missing from his record, while Thomas was eliminated in the semi-finals.
And for the last outing before the Games, the latter could not do better than 19th during the World Cup round scheduled in Prague.
"What the French were able to achieve before them, they can do too"
The interested party wants to be detached from all these considerations. Density requires, he knows that these selections often give birth to stories that are not always pleasant, as when Tony Estanguet, barely 22 years old in 2000, flew to Sydney to the detriment of his big brother Patrice, yet one of the favorites for the gold after winning bronze four years earlier in Atlanta.
"We feel this pressure coming, by journalists, not from the federation," he expressed a few days ago in
Southwest
.
I'm going to Tokyo to look for a medal, with my own story.
Denis (Gargaud-Chenut) has done better than me in recent months, but we don't have the same goal.
"And if ever he felt doubt dawning, he could reread these words of the master:" At the Olympics, it's a one-day race.
We must leave the bad results to the past, and tell ourselves that what the French were able to achieve before them at the Games, they can do too.
It works as well as a video.
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