At 36, Marie Patouillet decided to end her cycling career after the Paralympic Games, with a gold medal in pursuit and a silver in track time trial. Both were obtained at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome (Yvelines). Suffering from an orthopaedic deformity in her left foot, this LGBT activist intends to resume her career as a general practitioner and continue her commitment to combat homophobia and discrimination.
On a personal level, what do you remember about these Paralympic Games?
Several weeks before the event, I felt aligned. An inner voice told me that I had put everything in place to make it work: in terms of training, but also in terms of sharing my values. Regardless of the medals, it is a source of pride to have managed to do it and to have reached this level of serenity.
I always trusted what I had deep inside me. When we are born different and we don’t really understand why, we quickly feel excluded. Ultimately, I am proud because my difference has made me strong.
The French para-cycling team leaves the Games with 28 medals, including 10 gold. Unsurprisingly, this discipline is the one that brings the most medals to the French delegation. How do you explain this?
The results are amazing thanks to the staff. It was perfect. After the Rio Games [la France avait gagné une médaille de bronze]A new team came in and they put a lot of things into motion in terms of research and improving the material.
And then there is the atmosphere! It is true that we have high-performance athletes, but that is not enough. You have to create a team spirit, an atmosphere and surround yourself with the right people. You also need to build trust. The current staff has made sure that every individual feels good.
Our discussions and sometimes our conflicts meant that I did not experience any sexism during these Games. I felt like I was always in a “safe” environment. [sécurisée] When we were massaged, when we were talking… It was the little things that made us move forward. Before, we had all-male supervision, which is no longer the case: we have two female physiotherapists and a female mental coach. They are valuable even for male athletes.
Can these Games help change society’s view of disability?
I really believe that! They have become so big and we have had so much support that I can’t imagine the momentum going away. We have made too many people dream. The landscape will change because society has realised that even with a different body, we can be powerful and efficient. Anyway, the Games sent the message that “whatever body you have, you can thrive in it”. The key is to know it, tame it and discover it. For this, there is nothing better than sport.
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