Almost three years ago, Frédérique Lavigne was a little discouraged. The judoka who was then 13 years old could no longer practice her sport due to a certain pandemic which had caused an unexpected confinement by all.
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You may remember her. We had told his story. She told us that it was difficult to stay motivated by having to train through videoconferences, in particular. But she hung on.
“It obviously worked, I no longer have any motivation problems. Everything went really well,” she confided to us on the phone.
And how did it work! Last week, she won the gold medal at 70 kilos and over at the Canada Games in addition to winning gold with her Quebec teammates in the team competition. All of this earned her the title of the province’s flag bearer at the closing ceremony of the Games presented in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
Frédérique admits it, the forced break was difficult, but it is her father, Vincent, who lifts the veil on the painful moments that his daughter has gone through.
“At the beginning, it was very hard for her, we were worried and afterwards, we were proud of her courage. She rolled up her sleeves.
“Her friends who were in sport-study could continue to train when she could not. She hung on and several of her friends who were in sport-study programs dropped out as she continued. »
And Frédérique herself never doubted that she would hang on.
“Strangely, I never wanted to let go because I knew I could go further. I learned so much, I have no more excuses to train. »
Strength of character
Visibly proud of his daughter, who will be 17 at the end of the month, Vincent Lavigne points out that he and his wife Julie have discovered an even greater strength of character in their daughter than the one they knew.
“I suspected it, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover a ‘mental hardness’ that allowed him to get through this and come back strong. »
The father points out in passing that his daughter experienced an additional ordeal by changing weight category.
“She had her ups and downs and she fell into the open category, but there are girls who are up to 100 kilos. She partly relearned her judo since the Canadian championships last year. »
Unfavorable draw
The pandemic has meant that competition is now more intense on the Canadian scene, explains Frédérique.
“It cleaned up the athletes and made the competitions even more difficult in Canada. There are a lot of judo girls missing, there is a hole in our generation. »
In Charlottetown, she had a tough draw falling to Alberta’s Mariana Karas in her first fight.
“She’s my pet peeve, she beat me all the time for a year, I wanted to cry when I beat her. It validated the fact that everyone is beatable and has a weak point. »
She also defeated Karas a second time in the very last bout of the team competition final to confirm the gold medal for Quebec.
When we caught Frédérique earlier this week, she was on her way to Rivière-du-Loup for the Quebec Games final after spending an evening at home washing up between the two competitions. And on Thursday, she added another gold medal to her crop.
Olympic dream
After a tournament against her friends from the provincial scene at the Quebec Games, the Montrealer will turn her gaze to the international scene.
“In the near future, I would like to start international competitions because things are going well in Canada and Quebec. I know that things will be more difficult in competitions. »
As for the Olympics, there is no question of thinking of Paris next year or even of Los Angeles in 2028. Judo is a late-developing sport, so she is more likely to start thinking of Brisbane in 2032. She will have then 26 years old. But she refuses to project herself so far.
“I’m going to get there gradually. Of course I would like to go there, but I will do it at my own pace and going step by step. »
