Basement workouts as Olympic preparation for Tommasone

Last October, Cyril Tommasone qualified for the third time for the Olympic Games. As France goes in lockdown, he talked to the French Gymnastics Federation on the effects of confinement on both his preparation and mindset.

In these exceptional circumstances, the Lyon native is trying to continue hispreparation from the basement of the family home.

FFGym: How did you learn that the training sessions were suspended and how did you react?

Tommasone: This subject being important, I obviously followed the news, because before being an athlete, I am a citizen. Given the situation in China and then in Italy, we knew that containment would be the next step in France since the country was increasingly affected. When the President of the Republic made his second speech last Monday, and spoke of confinement, I went to the gymnasium to recover a pommel horse which I installed at home, in my basement. Confinement is obviously not good news, since it means a significant change in our preparation for us, athletes, preparing for the Olympic Games. This deadline is coming very quickly, in 4 months now, and we still must prepare for it.

 

FFGym: You are lucky to have a pommel horse at home. How is your training going, is it like what you could do at the training center?

Tommasone: Obviously, I cannot train like in the gym, the objective is simply to stay in shape. Everything is different. Firstly, I do not have my trainer with me who guides and corrects me, I am alone and secondly, I cannot balance because the ceiling is too low (laughs). It remains a basement without windows and therefore precarious conditions, but it still allows me to swing on the horse and keep a minimum of movements. I could thus resume more quickly, have less pain and therefore be able to perform faster.

 

FFGym: How did you react to the cancellation of the World Cup stages and the European Championships?

Tommasaone: We sawthat the situation was becoming more and more worrying in France and that confinement would certainly be put in place. We therefore expected the cancellation of all these competitions. Obviously, these cancellations handicap us since they represented important stages of preparation. Indeed, they allow us to repeat our movements, and even, in my case, to present my new routine and thus to arrive more serenely at this very stressful final deadline full of challenges. I hope that the competitions will be postponed in order to be able to participate, to present my exercise in order to be successful at the Games.

 

FFGym: How do you see the rest?

Tommasone: Today, it is unclear whether the confinement will be extended or whether the Olympic Games will be continued or postponed. What is certain is that we must train to be ready whatever decisions are made. I hope that the State will put in place initiatives to allow athletes in preparation for the Games to train and thus make France shine. At this time, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not intend to cancel or postpone the Games, but the situation may change since most of the qualifying competitions for the Games have been cancelled or postponed. In my opinion, we must give the athletes a chance who counted on these competitions to qualify for the Olympic Games, because it is the job of a career, the dream of any athlete. In this perspective, I think that postponing the games by a few months would be the best option, which would also allow us to better prepare for it. I just hope that the IOC will go in the direction of the athletes.

 

FFGym: What is your state of mind?

Tommasone: Like all French people, I think, I hope above all, that we will succeed in eradicating this epidemic, that the coronavirus will stop spreading and that we will find a way to cure infected people.

Merci Cyril! And the French Gymnastics Federation for this interview!