Lucas Mazur is imposing when, with a dark look, he advances to the net and challenges his opponents. You have to see the French badminton player, from the height of his one meter ninety-two – an extraordinary size in Paralympics –, stretch out his arms and send the shuttlecock with rage or hit it in his opponent’s camp. For this 26-year-old left-hander, victim of a stroke at the age of 3, which left him with a stiff right ankle, defeat is a forbidden word. And badminton is much more than a racket sport.
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“Today, I can’t wait to get into the arena and fight.”he was impatient, on August 26, a few days before the start of the Paralympic tournament. This vocabulary, more frequent in a boxing ring than among the kings of the shuttlecock, illustrates the determination of the man who won a gold medal in Tokyo, in 2021, in the SL4 category (disability affecting a lower limb). A title accompanied, on the same day, by a silver medal in mixed doubles, with Faustine Noël.
“He has a steely mind, ready to fight at any moment. In his eyes, you can see that he wants to “kill” his rival, that puts a lot of pressure”boasts his teammate from the French team, Charles Noakes, who is competing in Paris in the SH6 category (small players). “He impresses his opponents”confirms Elisa Chanteur, head of high-level para badminton at the federation. She adds that the young man also knows how to skillfully use his imposing stature with the referees.
In the Arena Porte de La Chapelle, Lucas Mazur will once again be the best chance for a gold medal for the French para badminton team, which is made up of eight representatives (five men and three women). Sunday 1is September, he could come up against the Indian Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj. The two men know each other well, they have shared titles for several years. The Frenchman had beaten him in the Paralympic final in Japan before the Indian took his revenge in the final of the world championships in Thailand in February this year. “A big blow”synonymous with questioning for the native of Saint-Jean-de-Braye (Loiret), who ultimately won the bronze medal at these World Championships.
New coach, new training site
Just a few months before the Games, Lucas Mazur decided to change coach and training site. The man from Loire returned to Salbris, in Loir-et-Cher. And a “worked a lot with [son] new coach, Maxime Michel [un ancien de l’Institut national du sport, de l’expertise et de la performance], on the height of lobs and the variation of attacks ». The results were not long in coming: he won the last two tournaments he played, in Spain and Scotland, with a victory over his Indian rival to boot. Enough to fill up on confidence a few weeks before the Games.
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