(Sainte-Luce-sur-Mer) From her first discussion with her new coach, Maude Charron put her cards on the table: “I would like to qualify for Paris, but I don’t want a medal. »
Coming from an ultra-competitive athlete, such a statement is surprising. However, she rather reassured Spencer Arnold.
“Relieving the pressure of winning another medal, even for the coach, is a lot,” notes the weightlifter from Sainte-Luce-sur-Mer. So it was said three years ago: to Paris, I’m bringing my family and I’m going to experience the Olympic Games. No pandemic, no masks, no tests, no stress. »
Upon her return from Tokyo in July 2021, the gold medalist was surprised by the repercussions of her victory. Media and public attention had not been part of his preparation. This took place in her father’s garage, due to lack of help from the politicians she had requested. Suddenly, everyone was tearing her away, even though she simply wanted to return to the comfort of her home in Bas-du-Fleuve.
In the following weeks, she felt like a pregnant woman whose belly no longer belonged to her.
“People were happy and proud, and I understand that they didn’t mean anything. But I spent a year training alone in a closed world. There, you come back, and you don’t even have time to assimilate what you experienced. »
She accepted the invitations, even though she found the dynamic “weird.”
It took her a while to understand his reaction. A discussion with goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé, hero of the Canadian soccer team in Tokyo, was enlightening in this sense.
“It was fun to be able to share that with someone who experienced the same thing, but in a different sport,” Charron testified the day after this meeting as part of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) in Montreal, in December.
“It normalizes what I experienced, the compromises we make. Coming back from Tokyo, we did not have any celebrations with the Prime Minister because the entire COC focused on the Winter Games which were coming six months later. We didn’t really have a place to exchange. It seems like it’s the only way I’ve had to process it all. »
At the beginning of April, the Quebec weightlifter sent a message by winning bronze at the Phuket World Cup, the last qualifying event for the Olympics. She achieved two important goals by beating Colombian Yenny Álvarez, world champion in 2022, and her “idol”, Taipei Kuo Hsing-chun, holder of the Olympic crown in the 59 kg category.
“I feel like I’m winning a medal at the Olympic Games,” reacted Maude Charron due to the quality of the opposition in Thailand. This will be less at the Olympics due to the limitation on registrations imposed by the International Olympic Committee.
Two and a half years later, what would Spencer Arnold think of his original statement? “For sure he would say I can win gold tomorrow morning in Paris… But we still have a way to go. »
