Will it ever stop? It is one of the finest achievements in French sport. At 50, the caldoche Pierre Fairbank is one of the veterans of the French disabled sports team. He took part in his first track and field competition in Australia… thirty-three years ago. He has since won eight Paralympic medals: gold over 200 meters at the 2000 Sydney Games, three silver (2000, 2004 and 2016) and four bronze (2000, 2004, 2008 and 2016). The 50-year-old will try to expand his record at the Tokyo Paralympic Games (August 24 to September 5).
Pierre Fairbank’s specialty is wheelchair sprinting over 100 meters, 400 m and 800 m, category T53, reserved for athletes who use only the strength of their arms. It is one of the most demanding disciplines in disabled sports, dominated for many years by Quebecer Brent Lakatos, holder of most of the world records.
Born in 1971 in Hienghène, a small town in New Caledonia – it means “to cry while walking” – Pierre Fairbank lost the use of his legs at the age of nine, after contracting polio. Of his handicap, he never made a drama: “From the start, the chair was like a bicycle or a skateboard for me, I never felt a prisoner”, he confides. As a teenager, it was a bit by chance that he discovered wheelchair racing.
Powerful arms and shoulders
“In my physiotherapist’s waiting room, I came across an article about disabled sports games in the Asia-Pacific zone. With two friends, we decided to go see what it was like and we met in Kobe, Japan, in 1989, in the midst of 3,500 athletes from all continents. It was amazing! “
At the time, the discipline was in its infancy. The seats are not yet profiled, weigh about twenty kilos, with four wheels, and do not allow to exceed 20 km / h. “For lack of mudguard, I had to stick tape on my forearms to avoid getting burned”, he recalls. Today, racing chairs have only three wheels, have become cars in carbon and Kevlar which allow to reach speed peaks to 35 km / h. The prices, them, knew an inflation: the armchair used by Pierre Fairbank in competition costs 8,500 euros.
Featherweight of 50 kg, with powerful arms and shoulders, he has the ideal physique for the long sprint. “He is strong at the start, and his tactical sense allows him to control the race in a discipline where overtaking is difficult, because a competition chair is 2 meters long. You can only really overtake in a straight line ”, explains Olivier Deniaud, who has been training him since 2006.
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