Every Monday,
20 Minutes
gives the floor to a sports actor or actress who is making the news of the moment.
This week, it's time for Romain Cannone, the Olympic champion swordsman in Tokyo.
The young 24-year-old fencer admits to not yet having emerged from the whirlwind he entered after his coronation surprise this summer.
Cannone wants to "make history" of his sport by accumulating titles.
But first he has to finish his studies.
It was the first French gold medal of the Tokyo Games, as breathtaking as it was unexpected.
This July 25, Romain Cannone crossed the board with the edge of the sword to become Olympic champion at 24 years old.
From an anonymous replacement for Daniel Jerent, suspended after a positive test, the young fencer became a hero whose freshness and course, via Brazil and the United States, delighted the journalists present on the spot.
After a very short vacation, Cannone resumed training at Insep and then competing in Livry-Gargan, Petit-Bourg (Guadeloupe) and Colmar, where the mayor came to welcome the former child of the club.
Yes, "Pano" (one of his nicknames) has changed dimension, but he wants to prove that he is not the man of one summer.
From the first World Cup in Bern, on November 19 and 20.
Looking back, did you suspect that a gold medal would have such an impact on people?
No.
I didn't think it would change my life and the way people view me so much.
Fortunately, this is not the case in training.
The goal is to be pushed around and push others around, make me progress and everyone progress.
The story behind Romain Cannone's gold medal https://t.co/cexWeFgHIn
- 20 Minutes (@ 20Minutes) July 25, 2021
Could the fact that this is the first French coronation in Tokyo have played a role?
I do not know.
I haven't been told about that.
We liked my performance.
It's not every day that you see fencing on TV.
It made people want to pick up again because of the Covid, and even to try the sport on others.
The most magical are the people who tell me: “I signed up because I saw you on TV.
" It's still amazing.
This title dates back almost four months now.
How did you experience this whirlwind?
I'm still in the whirlwind.
It's still intense.
Even in competition you are no longer an average person.
You have a label on the back.
It's a double-edged sword: you scare some people but others want to fight even more because you are Olympic champion.
Getting back to a normal rhythm is complicated.
We study side by side, we have requests.
For example, there, I have just finished training, I am with you on the phone.
Normally, I take my shower and go home.
I have a lot less free time.
I know that is part of the game and that it will gradually calm down.
I especially hope to perform in Bern.
It is the objective.
Livry-Gargan and Colmar, it was good competitions to see what to work on.
Bern is really the type of events we want to win.
The idea is to win more titles.
And to show that we are not just a comet that has known a day of grace?
Exactly.
A great athlete manages to perform even when things are not going well.
It's not every day that we are in perfect condition in competition.
For example, we all see that Djokovic is sometimes not at his best, but he still manages, with his tools, to beat the best in the world.
You were talking about your studies.
Where are you ?
I am in Master in Auditing and Management Accounting in Business School in Skema.
I am preparing my thesis for December, devoted to the effect of the Covid on cash flow management for small, medium and large companies in France.
And for the rest, do you feel that your title will make things easier for you?
Yes.
It's incredible.
Former athletes put you in their network, even companies that understand the importance of having top athletes in their ranks.
It's great for the post-career.
I am in discussion with two or three companies.
There is EDF, EY (a financial audit and consulting firm).
Leaving school and having the choice… Not everyone is so lucky.
What's your typical day?
Two training sessions per day at Insep, in the morning and in the afternoon, for a total of four hours.
You have to add a good hour or two for the brief.
And then there is everyday life: shopping, cooking, paying bills ...
Now that you have touched the Grail, what still motivates you?
Make your sport history?
World champion, European champion… These are titles that I do not yet have and that I would like to add to my list of achievements.
Even finish No. 1 in the world.
To say that you are world No. 1 is not at the level of Olympic champion, but it is in a very good second place.
When you like the sport, you want to win, you return to training happy, still wanting to improve.
I still have room for improvement.
I want to go even higher, to mark the history of my sport, as you say.
And the 2024 Olympics?
There are two seasons left and everyone has the same goal.
It is the one who wants it the most who will have the best weapons to achieve the right results.
I still want to.
That's why I only took two weeks of vacation and resumed training like everyone else.
I don't put myself at a higher level than others.
Considering how we “sell” these Games, we cannot forget them.
It is not an event that we will simply remember three months before it takes place.
We are reminded of this almost on a daily basis.
The fact that it's at home adds a certain magic.
You were present during Emmanuel Macron's speech in front of the athletes, which caused a stir.
What did you think of it?
There is necessarily a political side.
We always say that we will give more to the budget.
Emmanuel Macron also wants to make history with these Paris Games, which means bringing back a lot of medals.
He is ready, I hope in any case, to put in more resources, which can always make the difference in terms of results.
In our discipline, we can get two gold medals, individually and in teams, and the idea is to bring back these two gold medals.
We don't just want to participate in the Games.
It's something very big to participate but we go there to win.
So it's consistent.
This speech, there are those who took it badly, me not especially.
My goal, I repeat, is to make these two medals.
You are going to prepare for these Games with a new framework ...
Yes, we have two new coaches: Hugues Obry (who returns to his old post after an Olympiad with China) and Gauthier Grumier (Olympic team champion in Rio in 2016 under the leadership of Obry).
They both bring a lot of experience, new goals.
It's a new adventure.
Your parents, who have played a big role since the beginning of their career, run macaron shops in New York.
Is there now an Olympic badge?
No.
But they did a little series with a guy in fencing gear on it, to do a funny little tribute.
Afterwards, we know that they are Cannone macaroons, I started making them with my mother, we chose the recipes together.
But there is not a special taste compared to the Olympics.
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