She had planned everything before finally hanging up the high level. European Championships, Olympic and World Games at the end of the year to end his career in style, at the dawn of his thirties. Anne-Laure Florentin finally decided to stop everything a little more than six months before. Not for lack of ambition, no, the three-time European champion (2016-2017-2018) had plenty to spare. The member of the France team just could not predict that the Covid-19 would cause myocarditis, of which she still has sequelae several months later.
Fortunately, the 29-year-old Martinique is a fighter. “I thought for days and days before making this very difficult decision,” says the licensee of the Amicale Sportif d’Évry. We talked a lot about it with my coaches, the DTN, and my entourage. The doctors did not influence me. Maybe I could have done it differently if I had been younger and had allowed myself a little more time. “
I do not know how to thank you for your many words concerning my end of career. I did not expect so much feedback and kindness ????????????!
❤ SO SIMPLY THANKS TO ALL, FOR EVERYTHING ❤ pic.twitter.com/qOU33REMqM
— Florentin Anne-Laure (@AL_Florentin1) April 29, 2021
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It all started during the first confinement, in March of last year. Wounded in the knee, Anne-Laure Florentin decides to undergo surgery when the postponements of all competitions are announced. She is following her rehabilitation program in order to be ready for the World Championships, scheduled for mid-November in Dubai. It was then that everything started to get carried away.
“I had the first pains at the end of October, and it turned out that I had actually caught the virus, even though I was being very careful. I had all the symptoms, fatigue, migraines, loss of feeling… But no severe form. So I quietly resumed a week and a half later, without knowing that my health would be in such danger. “
In intensive care for a week
Initially, the palpitations occur in the evening, at rest, after the efforts of the day. More and more strong, less and less bearable. Anne-Laure undergoes tests with her doctor, who decides to send her to the emergency room. Placed in intensive care for a week, the champion fell starkly at the cardiologist: “He confirmed myocarditis, an illness that he had already seen in several rugby players also affected by the virus. (Editor’s note: and detected in people vaccinated with Pfizer, which is not the case). At the time it was a bit complicated. “
The member of the Pôle France de Châtenay-Malabry does not panic. This inflammation of the heart muscle – caused by a viral infection – can be treated with beta blockers, the function of which is to regulate the heart rate, which is too high here. “I had no intention of stopping but I could see that it would take time, and I couldn’t see myself relaunching myself in a preparation without being able to let go of the horses. Physically, psychologically, it was getting too complicated. I was scared. “
At first, Anne-Laure Florentin naturally accuses the blow. Despite the many supporters, he must accept the situation, see his last dreams of medals fly away, and above all put aside his passion for 25 years. Today, it is in the midst of a transition phase: “I am focused on my professional project, which will be in sports management. I still have my business school to validate. I did not resume karate. I do a little physical preparation, and I am always close to my club. “
