It is part of the decor, inseparable from the Mondial du Lion as from almost all competitions in the region. Thierry Touzaint, 70 years old, has been competing at the highest level, first as a rider, then as coach of the French team since 1993. After silver this summer in Paris – yet another medal in his gallery of memories – he had envisaged his future in dotted lines, admitting that he would not see himself hanging up from one day to the next, but without projecting himself as far as Los Angeles.
“I won’t go that far”he said at the end of July. His succession has therefore stirred up all the conversations in the industry since: it will be discussed at the federal level after the election of the new president, next December. Thierry Touzaint does not want to get involved, nor ostensibly appear to support so-and-so. On the other hand, passion having taken over, he says today he is ready to travel back to LA.
Thierry, your estate has been talked about a lot. Can we talk about your future?
I don’t have much to say about it actually. I always said that if there was still a need for me, I could still serve as long as my health allowed me to. At the moment, I’m in pretty good shape. If a replacement were to emerge, it would perhaps be as long as I hand over the reins, I am willing to help a successor even. At the moment, I don’t know anything.
READ ALSO. Thierry Touzaint, a life chasing medals
Would you like to work with your successor for a while, for a smooth handover?
Yes, why not. I was wondering because I’m getting older and Paris was such a goal for me. I fulfilled my contract, but I’m so passionate about this, that if I can still serve. That’s all I can say today… Afterwards, there will be federal elections. It will be up to the Fed to decide who they want to work with. Maybe they’ve had enough of me, I don’t know. But I have a feeling that a lot of people would like me to stay, that makes me quite happy. There are also inevitably some who want me to leave. It’s always the same, we can’t please everyone in the selections. I try to take the right riders to bring back medals on D-day and at H-hour. Afterwards, once I bring back my medal, I find that my mission is accomplished.
“The Federation wants to put everything back on track”
If the Federation suggested that you return to Los Angeles, has your position after the Games changed?
It seemed far away to me just a few months ago. But today… I have always been passionate and it is my state of form which will guide me. I haven’t always been in great shape for the past two years, but now I’m doing very well. So, I say it again, it is my state of form which will guide me. If I’m in good shape, why not. The motivation remains intact.
Rodolphe Scherer regretted in our columns (his interview here) that everything was blocked until December by the federal election.
We had already talked about it together with Rodolphe. But it is the choice of the federation and we must respect it. They want to put everything back together. This is a major turning point at the Federation in that Serge Lecomte (president since 2004) is not running for re-election. If it’s no longer him, it’s Frédéric Bouix (the general director of the FFE) who could replace him: whether that will change anything, I don’t know. But my role is not to comment on the candidates or to support anyone. My role is to bring back medals, that’s all. Some people get annoyed that things aren’t going fast enough for them. I say: don’t panic either, it’s only October.
