Marie Patouillet: forever first!

Before taking part in the pursuit racing event on Sunday, Marie Patouillet, a paralympic cyclist supported by BPCE Financement, won silver in the 500m track event: the first medal for the French delegation at these Paralympic Games Paris 2024!

Quite a symbol

Always the first! Just like in Tokyo three years ago, Marie Patouillet gave the French delegation its very first medal at the Paralympic Games. There could hardly have been a better symbol than this general practitioner supported by BPCE Financement being the first athlete to win a medal. This silver medal in the 500m carries so many stories, symbols and examples… It’s no longer a medal, it’s the symbol of a journey through life!

Marie Patouillet was born with a foot and ankle deformity. After studying medicine, she joined the Santé Navale (Army Health Service School) in Bordeaux, becoming a military doctor with the rank of captain. It was at the age of 28 that she discovered para-cycling, which would gradually come to play a major role in her life, which was already busy between her job and her passions for the piano and photography. In 2017, she took part in the “étape du Tour,” a popular cycling event that allows amateurs to ride a stage of the  Tour de France. It was a revelation! Sport so closely matched her temperament as a woman with a strong character, passionate, determined, endowed with that rare tenacity from which champions are made.

Seven years later, after winning several medals at the World Track Championships and, above all, two Olympic bronze medals in the C5 pursuit and road racing events in Tokyo in 2021, there she was, on the first day of the Paralympics Paris 2024, lined up for the start of the 500m. This race does not suit her intrinsic qualities. In the opinion of her long-time coach, Grégory Baugé, she’s not cut out for sprinting. But Marie loves this race. And when Marie loves something, she doesn’t think twice, she doesn’t see the obstacles or barriers in her path… She looks beyond them.

Alone against all odds

Against everyone’s advice, she threw herself into this discipline and her determination, her commitment and the strength of what she believed in were stronger than her shortcomings, enabling her to qualify for the competition. For Marie Patouillet herself, in an interview, it seemed excessive to talk about a potential medal; her focus was more on her achievement in getting so far.

In the final, she got off to a slow start compared to her rivals, as she didn’t have the leg strength to get off to a powerful start and, above all, she was using a higher gear ratio than the others. At mid-race, therefore, she had fallen well behind her rivals. But then, what happened next transcended mere sport; it was all about Marie, about her commitment to the fight against homophobia and in favor of inclusion, about the doctors she replaces year-round who were cheering her on in the stands, about her family, her wife, the jubilant public, the obstacles she overcomes, her 36 years of self-fulfillment, her openness to others, her freedom…

Those final 250 meters tell the story of an entire life taking her to the 2^nd step of the podium. Like an allegory, she overcame her disability and brought France its first medal at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024. The first of many. But the first. Marie Patouillet forever!

To learn more about which para athletes, athletes and teams supported by Groupe BPCE companies are present at Paris 2024: