He had less than a 5% chance that his disease would return. On April 18, 2023, however, Matthieu Lartot announced the recurrence of his knee cancer. Suffering from synovialosarcoma when he was a teenager, the journalist from France 2 again faced this type of sarcoma. Treated with chemotherapy, the voice of rugby on public service was forced to have his right leg amputated. After his fight, led with his wife and their children, he is about to make his television comeback on the occasion of the Rugby World Cup, which takes place in France from September 8, 2023. It will be his first competition since the return of his cancer, when he commented on the Six Nations Tournament. Placed under anti-inflammatories, as he recalls in the columns of the The team magazine on September 2, 2023, Matthieu Lartot did not let anything appear on the air. “I may have been stupid to want to go all the wayhe confided to our colleagues. But when you’re in the Tournament, you’re really in the drum of a washing machine.” Back in Paris, the journalist went to see a surgeon who told him the bad news.
Matthieu Lartot: his moving last Stage 2
But despite being diagnosed with a recurrence of her cancer, Matthieu Lartot has decided to stay on the air “for three or four weeks”. Before leaving the viewers, he presented a symbolic last number of Stage 2. On April 16, 2023, he received Alexis Hanquinquant, multiple champion of France, Europe and world champion in paratriathlon. “I come to see him before the show and I tell him: ‘this is my last Stage 2. Fate makes you the guest and in a few weeks, I’m going to have to amputate’, remembers the journalist with the The team magazine. He was great, he gave me lots of advice. We had a great show.” Professional to the end, Matthieu Lartot felt A “little moment of emotion” when saying goodbye to viewers before fight one’s battle. “I didn’t know for how long…”, he tells our colleagues. His absence will therefore have lasted less than five months. The 43-year-old journalist will indeed be back on France 2 on September 10, 2023 for commentary on the match between Scotland and South Africa. A won bet.