Nathalie Péchalat, coach of her daughter Jeanne? “To pass on to her the taste for effort”
Having retired from sporting life herself, is Nathalie Péchalat counting on her daughters to follow in her footsteps? The former ice star has opened up about her offspring as rarely before.
Nathalie Péchalat retired from sports 10 years ago. But the former figure skater, now 40 years old, does not live far from sport: she is the current deputy president of Club France, the largest fan zone for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
And, above all, his daughters also seem very passionate about the world of sport…
Why did she end her career?
After the 2014 World Championships in Saitama, Nathalie Péchalat ended her career. She was only 30 years old at the time. A rebirth for the athlete who confides that she has found a normal life again. “It feels good. I even remember the feeling I had for at least six months after I stopped competing, I would open my eyes in the morning and think: ‘Wow this is cool’. Because before, as soon as I opened my eyes, I was already late.”she confided to the media Lou last spring.
Ending her career was also about rediscovering a taste for simple things and being able to prioritize the people she loves. “And then putting family and loved ones back at the heart of our lives, no longer leaving them in the background all the time by saying: ‘My career, my schedule, my diet, my sleep, my training…’ Opening up to others, opening up to life, that brings me a lot of happiness.”
A coach for her daughters?
At 40, the former world championship medalist is a fulfilled mother. With her husband Jean Dujardin, she gave birth to two little girls: Jeanne, 8 years old and Alice, 3 years old. The mother confided in us about how she tries to interest her daughters in sport and more specifically in the notion of discipline. “I see my role as a mother as a coach. I am there to support her. What I would like is to be able to transmit to her the taste for effort, for a job well done, a certain requirement, a certain rigor, but without forgetting the whole dimension of pleasure and fulfillment.”she confided, speaking of her eldest, who is old enough to start sporting activities.
But playing the role of mother is not easy every day, and Nathalie Péchalat readily admits that. “I find that the biggest challenge for a mother, even if we know it, even if we’ve been told it, is to realize to what extent our children are not us. So, to manage to adapt to that, to find the right way to communicate, to try to help them as much as possible, but without directing them too much. It’s a question of balance and flexibility,” she confided.
