The “report” of Charles-Antoine Kouakou’s Paralympic final with his coach Vincent Clarico will be important to understand the reasons for his failure. On the purple track of the Stade de France (Seine-Saint-Denis), on Tuesday 3 September, the man who won gold in Tokyo in 2021 finished eighth and last in the 400 m, T20 category (for the intellectually disabled) in 49 s 04, far from his personal best (47 s 32).
A few hours before the deadline, Vincent Clarico confided to World that when he suspended his career, his protégé, who suffers notably from a language disorder, had difficulty expressing the reasons for his poor performance. “He just says he’s not feeling well.” And this is exactly the speech that the interested party gave in the mixed zone: “I wasn’t feeling well tonight. I was a little short on juice for this final stretch. It doesn’t matter, I’ll make up for it in four years in Los Angeles.”
Is the key to this disappointment due to the French sprinter’s lightning-fast start? “The final went by very quickly, Charles-Antoine even more sobook by Marie-Paule Fernez, national technical director (DTN) of the French Federation of Adapted Sports (FFSA). It was won in an unusual time of 48 seconds. [48 s 09 pour le Colombien Jhon Obando Asprilla]. It’s a disappointment because it was within his reach to do something great again. » Just like three years ago, when he became the first FFSA athlete to win a title at the Paralympic Games, in an empty venue due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before taking his place on the starting grid on Tuesday, the 26-year-old Frenchman was the embodiment of relaxation, all smiles, playing with the crowd. His handicap has one virtue: it makes him immune to the pressure of major events. Would the enthusiastic support of the Dionysian spectators have made him reckless in managing the race?
“We must be alert to any changes in habits”
Since the beginning of their collaboration in 2018, former hurdler Vincent Clarico has been fully involved behind his athlete. Almost like a priesthood. “It is a constant concentration. You have to be alert to any change in habits, a different attitude, signs of fatigue.says the coach. The complexity lies in their limited vocabulary and their imprecision or inability to take the initiative. »
Support for adapted athletes goes beyond that of an athlete without a disability or the majority of disabled athletes. “Once the training is completed, they have their intellectual integrity, their autonomyexplains the coach. For us it is much more difficult. It requires daily presence. He calls me if he has a flat tire on his car, for the smallest detail. »
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