The concern of French athletes in the face of the slump of the French Athletics Federation

Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie tries to treat his ankle during the pole vault final on August 3, 2021 at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Ben STANSALL AFP / Archives

Text by: Farid Achache Follow

7 mins

At three years of the Paris Olympics, French athletics is in a bad spot.

And another bad result in 2024 would stain the host country.

For the moment, the French Athletics Federation (FFA) still does not have a national technical director (DTN). 

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In addition to catastrophic results - two medals and no title at the Doha Worlds in 2019, and a single medal and no title at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 - the French Athletics Federation (FFA) is mired in a governance crisis.

Last September,

Florian Rousseau, director of high performance

, did not wish to renew his contract.

Anne Barrois, Acting National Technical Director, is no longer in charge and for the moment no one has taken the position.

The FFA awaits its next DTN in an atmosphere of crisis.

We no longer really know who does what 

 There is no longer a single person in charge, but several at the same time with moderately defined functions. We no longer really know who does what, when, how, or who to contact. We're floundering. We athletes are all a bit lost. This generates a lot of inertia and very little efficiency, 

”worries Renaud Lavillenie in an interview published Thursday, November 4 in

L'Équipe.

“ 

The house of cards has quickly collapsed since 2017. In 2019, I said after the Doha Worlds that we were going straight into the wall by continuing like this.

It is a global problem.

We no longer know who is in charge.

Everyone should find their area of ​​expertise and an order of mission to be respected (…).

We did not know how to find a leader like Ghani Yalouz had been able to be

 ”, recently declared to the daily

Le

Monde

the walker Yohann Diniz, who took part in seven world championships and four editions of the Olympic Games.

Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre rejoices after his 3rd place in the 200m final at the Rio Olympics, on 18 2016 AFP / Archives

The beautiful Amsalem-Yalouz years

Go back.

In 2009, Ghani Yalouz was appointed DTN

by Bernard Amsalem to replace Franck Chevallier. He stayed for nine successful years. In 2010, France returned with 18 medals gleaned during the European Championships in Barcelona. To the delight of French viewers, French athletics then took second place among European nations. In 2014, during the European Athletics Championships in Zurich, it was a fireworks display. The French delegation brought back 23 medals, nine of which were gold, which to date represents the historic record for a European championship. French athletics is living its heyday. The apotheosis arrives

in Rio in 2016.

During the Olympics, French athletes return from the Olympics with six medals.

The biggest total since 1948.

Considered a leader of men, with a method based more on people than on technique, Ghani Yalouz had been able to bring the French athletics team to its best results since the last three Olympics.

Valuing

" and " 

bringing together

 " the athletics family

Upon his arrival as DTN, the former world wrestling champion had made the French Championships compulsory for all those who claimed to represent France at European and world level (in their specialty).

What was considered a revolution.

Ghani Yalouz congratulated himself on having “ 

valued 

” and “ 

brought together

 ” the athletics family after making his inventory.

I did not want to lull the athletes into the illusion,

 " he explained.  

Athletics demand high standards and his human approach had visibly hit the mark.

We miss Ghani

,”

Pierre-Ambroise Bosse

bluntly blurted out

on France Television during the Doha Worlds in Qatar. 

“ 

We were the first federation that went to look for a DTN that was not from its sport

, remembers RFI Bernard Amsalem, president of the FFA from January 2001 to December 2016.

It was complicated to get it accepted because it t was the Ministry of Sports which was to appoint the DTN. My idea was to have a fresh eye and at the same time a person with a French

team

spirit

.

Until then, each discipline trained together.

The sprint with the sprint, the middle distance with the middle distance, etc.

We wanted to do internships to mix everyone up and develop this French team spirit.

This allowed athletes and coaches to get to know each other better.

We managed to create a positive atmosphere.

The difference between an athlete who succeeds in his championship and one who misses it is often the head.

From the moment when the psychological is fed by a better knowledge of each other, I believe that it is more present on D-day 

”.

A time when the FFA athletes were received at the Élysée for their performances and even had the privilege of parading on the Champs-Élysées like the French football team!

Everything was rolling.

The French Pierre-Ambroise Bosse poses on the podium with his gold medal after his victory in the 800m at the World Athletics Championships, August 9, 2017 in London AFP / Archives

A generational hole?

“ 

We are coming to the end of a generation that appeared in 2010 at the European Championships in Barcelona.

It is the end of a cycle.

And then there is a generation for Paris 2024 which is coming but which is a little tender.

There is an intermediate generation but it lacks density.

This generational gap must be filled, 

”argued André Giraud after the Doha Worlds.

There is no generational gap, there is always a breeding ground

, retorts Bernard Amsalem.

But we have to support young people and that is the role of the State.

Mixing a high-level career with long studies is not easy.

And not many schools or universities offer accommodations.

And it affects all sports.

It is a real subject which has been a problem for years and which has not been tackled head-on by successive governments.

" And now ?

Patrick Ranvier new DTN?

The former DTN of rowing, Patrick Ranvier, would be the favorite of the president of the FFA, André Giraud. This would not excite Claude Onesta, manager of high performance at the National Sports Agency (ANS). In a statement where the former boss of the French handball team is not cited, the president of the FFA replied: “

We will not let anyone decide for us.

 "

Indeed, by presenting the strategic orientations of Paris 2024 at the beginning of October, Claude Onesta had mentioned the federation of the first Olympic sport which is athletics.

"

 When a car is in the wall and it is broken, that one does not tell me that it is not in the wall, then (now) we will make sure to drive it together

 ", had -he declares.

Patrick Ranvier and Grégory Saint-Génies were heard on November 3 by an

ad hoc committee

, headed by the sports department of the ministry.

Grégory Saint-Génies served as DTN at the French Federation of Water Skiing and Wakeboarding.

“ 

We have already consulted with several athletes

(...). 

Maybe sometimes it would take a person banging his fist on the table, pointing a direction.

A common thread is missing 

, ”says Renaud Lavillenie.

On leaving office, Florian Rousseau had drawn up a severe assessment of the functioning of French athletics, denouncing " 

States in the State with coaches who are openly against the FFA

 ".

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