Louis Gérardin

Louis Gérardin

Louis "Toto" Gérardin (born August 12, 1912 in Boulogne-Billancourt , † May 23, 1982 in Paris ) was a French track cyclist and trainer.

Career

For over 20 years, Louis Gérardin was one of the world's best sprinters on the track. In 1930 he became world champion of the amateurs in the sprint, then he became a professional. As such, he took second place three times and third place twice at rail world championships . Gérardin was French champion 13 times, most recently in 1953 at the age of 41. In 1950 there was the curious situation that there were three French champions at the same time. The association had decided to promote aviation and organized three equal championships in which amateurs, independent and professional drivers could participate. All three winners were allowed to wear the championship jersey. In addition to Gérardin, Jacques Bellenger and Maurice Verdeun were the other champions, and there was also a pure amateur championship.

In 1939, 1941 and 1943 he won the Grand Prix de Paris and three times in 1936, 1937 and 1941 at the Grand Prix de l'UVF , both of which were renowned sprint tournaments. His friendship with athletic competitors, the Belgian driver Jef Scherens and the German Albert Richter , was unusual ; they were called the " three musketeers ".

After finishing his active career in 1958, Gérardin coached the French national team and looked after successful sprinters such as Daniel Morelon and Pierre Trentin . When he retired in 1977, Morelon followed him as national coach.

Private

Gérardin's affair with Édith Piaf caused a sensation in France . For the singer, he left his wife in the early 1950s, who had the couple shadowed by a private detective. After the two-year affair ended, Gérardin publicly complained: "Two days and two nights with the Piaf are more exhausting than a stage of the Tour de France." 54 love letters that Piaf wrote to Gérardin were sold at Christie's in May 2009 for 67,000 euros auctioned.

successes

World championship medals

• gold
  • Sprint: 1930 (amateurs)
• silver
  • Sprint: 1936, 1947, 1948
• bronze
  • Sprint: 1934, 1935

Individual evidence

1. ^ Association of German cyclists (ed.): Radsport . No. 36/1950 . German sports publisher Kurt Stoof, Cologne 1950, p. 18 .
2. ↑ Renate Franz : The forgotten world champion. The mysterious fate of the Cologne racing cyclist Albert Richter. Covadonga, Bielefeld 2007, ISBN 978-3-936973-34-1 , p. 83.
3. ↑ Liberation v. June 25, 2009

Web links

• Louis Gérardin in the Radsportseiten.net database