Many tears very early this Friday at Roc Saint-André in Morbihan, to attend the coronation of Dorian Foulon at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. Tears of joy and emotion, in memory of years of sacrifice and estrangement.
After the Costa Rican Alexandre Léauté on Thursday, it was the Morbihan cyclist Dorian Foulon who won gold at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, winning this Friday morning in the individual pursuit on the track. Trials followed in Morbihan by Dorian’s family, on a giant screen, installed at the Town Hall of Roc Saint-André (at the Town Hall of Val d’Oust more precisely, name of the new town associating Le Roc-Saint-André, Quily and La Chapelle-Caro, where Dorian is from). His grandfather, grandmother, mother, father, big brother, little sister, as well as relatives and Mayor Florence Prunet, many had been there since very early in the night to attend the consecration of the child of the country.
7 years of sacrifice for Dorian and his family
If Dorian is a child of the Chapelle-Caro, he has not lived there for 7 years. Gone at the age of 16 in the Basque Country, it is within the Club d’Urt Vélo 64 that he perfected his cycling. And this Friday morning, the whole family remembered these years “ without seeing it ». « This does not mean that we lack complicity. The family is very close and very united “. But his big brother Matthieu admits that this estrangement was difficult to live with. ” It was a great lack for us, for siblings, for parents He explains with tremolos in his voice. He also thinks of Dorian, of the ” sacrifices he had to make, which he could not experience as moments with his family, being five. We see it once a year outside the frame of the bike “. What his little sister Lilou suffered: ” the only memories I have with him, there aren’t many other than the bike “. So, the brother and sister went to see him at the beginning of July before the Games, to help him, explains mum Patricia, “ rejuvenate. Psychologically he needed it “. And to add that they had not seen each other since Christmas. ” We call each other a lot. But even if we have the visual with the new technology, nothing replaces physical contact ».
Will, abnegation, commitment, work
This gold medal is therefore also theirs, even if his father Jean-Marc, insists on the character of Dorian who has shown ” a lot of willpower, a lot of self-sacrifice, a lot of daily commitment, a lot of work “. A will that dates back, remembers Patricia, because “ he could be exempted from sports at school if he wanted. He never wanted to. He always played sports with his head held high. I don’t give up and I fight “. Besides, Dorian « never felt disabled »Adds his brother. The proof, Dorian also runs with the able-bodied, at the highest amateur level. He was even the first disabled cyclist to compete in the Tour de l’Avenir, and hopes to participate in the Tour de France. More sacrifices in prospect.
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