Sunglasses on the nose, Marie Patouillet would go almost unnoticed in the middle of the crowd who came to celebrate parasport, Saturday, October 8 on the Place de la Bastille, in Paris. But his polo shirt with the “French team” logo and, above all, his short platinum blond hair very quickly leave no room for doubt.
Crowned world champion on the road in Canada on August 14 (category C5, amputation or unilateral upper limb injury), the 34-year-old cyclist is tackling a new challenge on the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, from October 20 to 23, for the Para-cycling Track World Championships.
Bronze medalist in 2019 and silver in 2020, Marie Patouillet has the supreme title in the corner of her head. But she assures him, it is only a step towards his goal: to bring gold back to Paris in 2024.
franceinfo: sport: You took part in the first ever Paralympic day in France, on October 8th. How did you experience it?
Marie Patouillet: It was historic. The organization was great, the weather great… I was also able to try out two sports, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball, it was incredible. I played with a little girl who must have been 6 or 7 years old, it was an incredible moment of sharing that you don’t experience when you are a top athlete. It also makes it possible to talk about Paralympic sports, to promote them to the general public, to show that we exist, that we have great performances.
Even if sometimes our sport seems different, complicated because there are so many categories, we stay in the performance. The message I want to send would be: “Come support us, because if in Paris, in 2024, we want to go get medals, we will need everyone”.
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Do you have the feeling that the public, since the Paralympic Games in Tokyo last year, knows the tricolor athletes better?
I have the impression that the media coverage is gradually improving, yes. When we know that the broadcast time will triple in Paris with France Télévisions, it’s a real step forward. But this progress, we must also accompany it, there must be people who are watching and who can support us behind. That’s why this Paralympic day is so important.
In what state of mind are you going before your last big meeting of the season, namely the Para-cycling World Championships on track at home, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines?
Me, the objective is very clear, it’s Paris 2024. Since I came back from the Tokyo Games, with Grégory Baugé my coach, we’ve been clear on that. The rest will serve as a gauge, a balance sheet. This does not mean losing performance, because this summer there was a title of world champion on the road and this winter a world record [sur le 200 mètres sur piste, au championnat de France handisport, en février 2022]. I just want to continue like this.
There is still the idea of a first world track title which must be on the mind, after bronze and silver in previous editions…
Let’s say that if there is the possibility of going to look for it, obviously, I take! I changed a lot of things with my staff, my way of working, it allows me to validate important stages, so that physically, I feel good, that there are no injuries. So we go step by step, we live the present moment. And I will give everything on these championships, you will have to count on me! But the goal is Paris 2024.
You have been working for a few years with your trainer, Grégory Baugé. How would you describe your relationship?
Greg, I knew his track record but he seemed so unapproachable to me! We are talking about Grégory Baugé, multi-medal sprinter [10 titres de champion du monde en vitesse, individuelle et par équipes], a champion. And the meeting was made quite simply, after one of my falls on track elsewhere. It’s one of the best meetings of my life, he made me progress technically and he has phenomenal knowledge. We are both going in the same direction and there is mutual trust.