AGE: 31 COUNTRY: France EVENTS: Track cycling, individual and team sprints THE DRAMA: Can Gané defend the team title and win his own at his last Games? THE COMPETITION: Dutchman Theo Bos beat Gané to win the world sprint title
Posted Sunday, August 8, 2004; 11.13BST
A sprint cycling race is over in all of 11 seconds, but for French sprinter Laurent Gané, heats are really won inside his head. A native of the French South Pacific territory of New Caledonia, Gané worked in a foundry until 1996, when he moved to the southern French port town of Hy ères to train. Although equipped with great physical strength and stamina, he lacked the killer instinct to win big events. So in 1998, Gané started working with French sports psychologist Gilbert Avanzini, who also helped boost the career of three-time Olympic cycling champion Felicia Ballanger.
His attitude and his fortunes changed. Avanzini "taught me to rely on an untapped mental toughness to battle through barriers," Gané says. "It made me aware of just how much more I was capable of." Since 1999, he has won the sprint world title twice. He won gold in the team sprint in Sydney. At the 2004 worlds, he won gold with the team and silver in the solo sprint. His good form bodes well for Athens, which he says will be "my last big one, my last Olympics." Take note, rivals: "This year," he says, "has been dedicated to peaking in Athens."
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