The boss of French paracycling had predicted it. “In road racing, you’re going to see two or three gold medals some days. “, announced Laurent Thirionet, Sunday 1is September. The track events of the Paralympic Games had just ended. With seven medals, including two gold, the Blues left the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome with a sense of duty accomplished, despite some disappointments.
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On Wednesday, September 4, they got back in the saddle for “make a splash”according to the manager. A crazy day, one of the richest in the history of French Paralympic sport. On a circuit designed around Clichy-sous-Bois, in Seine-Saint-Denis, the Tricolores won eleven medals, including four gold, during the various time trials that took place throughout the day. In the press room or around the stands, you had to pinch yourself to believe it. “It’s not possible, said Mathieu Jeanne, national coach. All the times were perfectly managed. It’s thanks to the work that paid off.”
In this day “dream”France secured two doubles. Kevin Le Cunff, 36, beat his compatriot Gatien Le Rousseau who had kept him off the podium on the track. The new Paralympic champion in the C4 time trial, a category in which athletes suffering from unilateral tibial amputation or neurological disorders compete, was then in full doubt. “That’s two Olympics and four chocolate medals [4e place], he lamented. I think the track is not a discipline for me. I don’t want to come back to a velodrome anymore. I’m an outside guy so I’m going to stay outside.”
“Relieved” by his performance
Under a spring sky, three days later, he won “on a technical course which [lui] “was a good fit.” He said to himself ” relieved ” by the level of his performance, but not only: with the bonus of 80,000 euros that accompanies his gold medal, Kevin Le Cunff will “to be able to redo your roof and spend the winter in the dry”.
The cyclist was born with two club feet. “That is to say, turned upside down, he explained to the Monde a few weeks before the start of the Games. As a child, I walked with my heel off the ground. I was very locked. Today, for the same thing, we operate almost at birth.” For him, it was at the age of 11.
The bike, “alongside a long list of prohibited sports”, was the only sporting activity that Kevin Le Cunff, also a victim of an atrophied calf, was allowed to practice. He then turned to mountain biking “for the fun side” and the pleasure of evolving in natural settings. “When I was doing mountain races, I could see that I was getting saturated more quickly than others. In fact, I almost only pedal with my thighs.” But on the descents, he feels absorbed by the slope, intoxicated by the sensation of speed. He races with the able-bodied cyclists, in cadets then in juniors. Even wins a few races. “I got into mountain biking to improve my skills, then I got a taste for it.”
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