 By Caroline. |
By Caroline. |
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Elvire Teza: a great Lady of Gymnastics (Part 2). In Marseille you lived with your coaches. Did it not get a bit stressful, being around each other all the time? - No, because they knew how to draw a line between training and home. When a session hadn't gone well we would go back over it, but it never lasted more than 15 minutes. When we think about Elvire Tezza, Nelly Ramassamy, Eric and Patrice Casimir, we think about Reunion Island. What does the island mean to you? - It's my country! It's my past and it's my future! What don't you like about France? - It's not so much what I don't like as opposed to what's missing here. Was the role of team captain, which you had for several years, more of an honour or a burden for you? - Neither. It came naturally. The annoying part was that when the girls were complaining about something it was up to me to go and talk to the coaches about it! During the 7 years of your career you went through physical changes. Was that a handicap or were you able to turn it to your advantage? - It was definitely harder. You feel heavier, more tired, you don't have the same bearings. But the hardest thing to deal with was the criticism that came from outside. Again, fortunately my coaches were there to shield me from some of the unkind comments and fortunately they kept faith in me. People don't always understand that it's normal for a gymnast to change and that you can't always weigh 35 kilos! On the other hand, as the years went by I got more solid and muscular. For example, from '94 to '99 I always did the same vault and it was only from '99 onwards that I was able to perform all the families of vaults. What's more, it was at the 2000 Nationals that I performed my best handspring layout-half. We all know the Teza on beam but are there other skills that you worked in training without necessarily ever competing them? - Oh yes! On beam I did a flip-flop followed by 4 layouts. I even did 5 once! I also did the full-in dismount. On bars I worked true German giants, like the guys do, and the double front half out dismount. There's other things that I've forgotten, of course. What, for you, would the ideal gymnast be like? - Physically, she would be toned and supple – though not too much. Actually, the physical qualities aren't the most important. It's psychological strength that counts. She would be a determined gymnast who uses her head and takes time to learn. When I first came to Marseille I went back to working on basic elements. I felt like I was getting worse. I wasn't doing any tumbling any more. It's after you realize it's necessary, once you've got the basics down, then you really take off! What's your opinion on the new Code of Points? - It's very hard. It definitely wouldn't have suited me but... And the French national team in all this? - Its youthfulness is both its strength and its weakness If you could change something in the world of gymnastics what would it be? - Without a doubt the mentality. The judges' mentality first of all. They should be fairer and not look at the national badge pinned to the gymnast's back. And then the coaches' mentality. |
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