The Frenchwoman, who won the 3000m pursuit (C5), looks back on the episode she experienced during the medals ceremony.
In Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
From the start of the protocol, which quickly followed after the race, Marie Patouillet was trying to catch her breath. With her hands on her knees, she was short of breath in a velodrome crushed by the heat. She needed the support of Heidi Gauguin and New Zealander Nicole Murray to get to the end of the ceremony. Before leaving the podium in a wheelchair. The general practitioner, after a few minutes, returned with a smile on the episode in the mixed zone. She who, at 36, born with a malformation in her left foot, is competing in her last Games and, at the end of the effort and emotion, won her first gold medal (after two silver medals in 2021 in Tokyo) in the 3000 m pursuit (C5). Excerpts.
Le podium : “In the corridors, I already didn’t feel well. In Tokyo (in 2021), I had tingling, it held. There, nothing held. I said to myself, I have to say it otherwise it will end in a malaise and I still have the road to do. It would be stupid to have the accident after malaise, I have teammates, especially a teammate in gold Heïdi (Gauguin) who supported me despite her disappointment. We will have experienced a Marseillaise against the protocol. We were asked to separate, I said ”Girls don’t leave, otherwise I’ll fall!” We experienced an atypical Marseillaise. I will have to look at the images because I don’t remember everything. The atypical is quite like me. There is the heat, the emotions, the physical effort. When you make a final, you go with your guts, with everything you have and even more. And the audience took me beyond what I could do.”
A golden ending: “I don’t realize it, already because there was this post-final malaise and because in my head Heidi was the favorite. She had produced such an incredible time this morning that I said to myself ”Do what you know how to do, no regrets, these are your last laps, they have to be magical, not half-hearted. You mustn’t give up before the end, just push, push, push. Which is what I did.” I think my determination took me a little too far physically but the result is there. It will take me a little time to realize it. I train more for the 500m than for the pursuit. Doing two efforts so close together is not my area. Often, either I crack or I do a much worse time. There, there was the public, the words of my partner who told me ”These are your last laps, you owe them to yourself, don’t think about the podium, you have to make them magical.” I left with that, I think it freed me. I’ve been underperforming for three years, times that don’t suit me, didn’t satisfy me during all these world championships between Tokyo and now, it feels good to go for this famous personal record that was my main goal.
Heidi : “I saw her. Inconsolable. I understand. Like any competitor, she wanted to win. There is disappointment behind it. With the time in the morning, she was the favorite. She will pull herself together. And on the road, she will do incredible things.”
“Between the two pursuits, I was exhausted, I said to myself ‘but how are you going to do it’. But it has this magic, it’s the Games. The road is going to be another matter, the efforts are longer. But, present moment. ‘Step by step’, what I did between my two pursuits. And we’ll see. Afterwards? It gives me even less regret about stopping. I managed to make sure that everything aligned, my head, my physique, I’m having an incredible Games. The atmosphere with the staff is magical. All my loved ones are there. Everything is aligned. I tell myself that I’m extremely lucky to be able to stop now with these results.”
