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| Showjumping: Nicolas Touzaint chooses passion over prestige |
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| Thursday, 17 April 2008 | |
Teresa Dolan meets France’s Olympic hope After competing at championship level now for many years, Touzaint has been awarded the prestigious Légion d’Honneur. His successes have already led him to one Olympic Games in 2004, where he won three out of four events in the individual competition. Yet for all his brilliance, he displays no airs and graces, a quiet, almost shy man with a gentle sense of humour. In preparation for this year’s Games, Touzaint is fully focused on training to compete against the English, German and American teams, his biggest competition. “I am trying at this time to concentrate entirely on my riding and my horses,” he says, adding that he will begin looking more towards the Olympics after the first trial competitions in July. For now, Touzaint is preparing by doing “all the usual things: training, eating well, breathing and relaxation”. With Touzaint’s success comes a large fan base, including young girls hoping to get a glimpse of the handsome rider. On the day of the interview, he was met by two schoolgirls bubbling with enthusiasm, flourishing a questionnaire for a school report. Touzaint admits to being rather confused by all the attention, preferring instead to zero in on his training. “I’m flattered,” he says, “but it can be quite distracting.”  www.ffe.com/?cat=1&fic=/infos/cavaliers/cavaliers.html for more information about the riders and other aspects of work of the Olympic team and the Pôle France Équitation. |
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