How far can a coach go? “That is the whole point of this trial,” explains Anne-Laure Rousset, the lawyer for five young gymnasts, residents of the Pôle France in Marseille. The young women, minors at the time of the facts, detailed to their lawyer the bullying, mockery and humiliation suffered, leading them to file a complaint in 2021 against Vincent Pateau, technical director of the France pole in Marseille. One of them also implicated Pierre Ettel, ex-coach of the pole. The French Gymnastics Federation (FFG) is also a civil party. The two men will be tried separately this Friday, by the Marseille criminal court for moral harassment.
“They were not trained over the same period but all experienced the same thing and realized that the training they had was not normal”, develops Anne-Laure Rousset who also believes that “it is the pole as a whole which is questioned”, even if only Vincent Pateau and Pierre Ettel will be judged.
Of the five young gymnasts, only one of them continued to practice this sport by leaving for Dijon. The others have given up and are trying to rebuild after putting aside their dreams of Olympic medals. Their forced march training, to the point of leaving the palms of their hands raw, the reflections on their weights resulted in “a physical or psychological alteration” on the young women, according to their lawyer. C., 17 today, is stunted. “She still has the body of a young girl,” explains Anne-Laure Rousset. I. has developed a morbid fear of being fat. She has since moved to Canada to study and suffers from an “eating disorder”.
This trial sheds light on a sport marked by several court cases revealing a toxic culture in several federations around the world. In Australia, a 2021 report uncovered abuse and sexual assault. Practices also denounced in Canada. In the most extreme case, a national team doctor has been found guilty of sexually assaulting more than 250 athletes.