2023-09-03 09:30:12
The French Hugo Boucheron (left) and Matthieu Androdias Olympic rowing champions in Tokyo in double sculls, July 28, 2021. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP
“A single being is missing, and everything is depopulated”, wrote Lamartine. As the world rowing championships begin on Sunday September 3 in Belgrade, the absence of Matthieu Androdias in the men’s double scull, adorned with gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, is regrettable. “He is the best French rower. It has the best performance on the ergometer [appareil servant à mesurer le travail musculaire] these last years “, summarizes Alexis Besançon, coach of the France team. In Serbia, the colossus from La Rochelle (1.94 m, 93 kg) will be replaced by Valentin Onfroy, a profile ” less powerful “.
Read also “It was not pretty, but we throw ten potatoes from space”: at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, the golden race of the French Androdias and Boucheron in rowing
Matthieu Androdias was the victim of an infection – “a derivative of mononucleosis” according to his coach – in late spring after the European Championships in Bled, Slovenia. Present at the preparation camp for the Worlds, the 33-year-old rower finally threw in the towel, as in the last two rounds of the World Cup. “The recovery was not as good as we had hoped, recognizes Alexis Besançon. The muscular and cardiological preparation is very long and we preferred not to take any risks with Matthieu in view of the Games [olympiques de Paris] next year. »
Over the past five years, Hugo Boucheron and Matthieu Androdias have stacked up the titles: twice European champions (2018, 2021), twice world champions (2018, 2022) in addition to their Olympic title. Saddened by the withdrawal of his partner, the Lyonnais decides to do good against bad luck: “It’s the best thing that could have happened to us. After Tokyo, we no longer wanted anything. Last year at the Worlds [à Racice, en République tchèque], I don’t know how we are titled: we weren’t on the attack as much and we lacked motivation on a daily basis. » In this new configuration, Hugo Boucheron has “remobilized in training with the urgency of an Olympic qualification”.
A “natural” association
He will also occupy an unprecedented position in the boat: the 30-year-old rower will take the place of his partner, swimming, at the front of the boat. “Hugo was behind Matthieu on each of their titles, which worried him, explains Alexis Besançon. He asked me to put it in half [en position de suiveur, derrière sur le bateau] because he didn’t feel comfortable, but his ability to be long in his oar to pace the boat and Valentin’s ability to follow quickly erased any doubts. »
Before settling in this boat, Valentin Onfroy distinguished himself in another event, the coxless pair – a discipline in which the crew is made up of a pair of rowers, each with an oar. With his older brother Théophile, he won the bronze medal at the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv (Bulgaria).
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