Timothee Adolphe

Started: He began training for athletics in 2000 in Guyancourt, France. (Athlete, 23 Oct 2015) Reason: "I started athletics at the age of 10 in Guyancourt, a town next to Versailles, southwest of Paris. Later on, I looked for a club in the town where I was studying that accepted visually impaired people. I was born visually impaired and went completely blind later on when I was 19. The coach told me he didn't have time to waste on blind people. I was just 15 at the time, and it was something hard to accept. So I started playing torball, a discipline tailored for the visually impaired, before taking up athletics once again at the Paris University Club." (groupebpce.com, 20 Jul 2023) Ambition: To win a gold medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. He also wants to help to develop basketball for vision-impaired people in France. (france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr, 25 Feb 2024; groupebpce.com, 20 Jul 2023) Additional Info: TOKYO DISAPPOINTMENT FUELS PARIS AMBITIONS He said he is eager to win a gold medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris to make up for the disappointment of his disqualification at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. "[2024] will be one of the most important seasons in my career, and the Paralympics in Paris should be the crowning glory. In Tokyo, I was the favourite in the 400m but I was disqualified, so here at home [I want to win]. [But] It's important not to change the intensity of your preparation routine. I've acquired quite a bit of experience and now's the time to make use of it. Just because it's the Paris Games doesn't mean you have to do more, because you'll risk making a mistake and injuring yourself. So we've identified the areas where we need to focus a bit more. We've learned a great deal from the [2023] world championships in this respect." (groupebpce.com, 20 Jul 2023) DISQUALIFICATIONS He has experienced several disqualifications at major events. At the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo he was disqualified in his 400m heat after losing the tether. At the 2014 European Championships in Swansea, Wales, he was disqualified for a false start from his guide during the 100m final. At the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, he was disqualified from the 400m semifinal after stepping out of his lane. At the 2017 World Championships in London, England, he was disqualified in the 200m final after he pushed his guide, causing him to lose balance and to cross the finish line first. At the 2018 European Championships in Berlin, Germany, he was once again disqualified from the 200m event because he was not wearing his race number. "I am a determined person, so I will continue on as long as I get the reward that I deserve due to all the work I have done with my guides and my coach. Now there are just details to work on so these sort of situations won't happen again." (france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr, 25 Feb 2024; stadion-actu.fr, 25 Aug 2018; sans-filtre.fr, 14 Aug 2018) THE WHITE CHEETAH His nickname in French is 'Le Guepard Blanc' [the White Cheetah]. "This nickname started in 2013, the night before my first final at the world championships, which I qualified for to the surprise of most people. And my coach, Arthemon Hatungimana, who is from Burundi, said, 'Tomorrow you won't be a lion because you're not as beefy as a lion, but you will be a cheetah, a white cheetah'. And it's a nickname that has stuck ever since. I like it, it is satisfying to hear." (Europe1 Podcast, 01 Nov 2020) FUTURE PLANS He said that after his athletics career he has a number of projects planned. "I'm not going to try and hang on to [competing to] the bitter end. You have to know how to do something else. I've got lots of other projects, including music and stand-up comedy. I've set up a company that's bringing out a video game for the general public that's accessible to people with all kinds of disability and that we intend to develop. It's just been released [in 2023]. And I also want to create a version of basketball accessible to the visually impaired." (groupebpce.com, 20 Jul 2023) MUSIC He is a hip hop music enthusiast and was a member of a band called TMRIT, but had to leave it in order to focus on his training. During the COVID-19 pandemic he released a single about his impairment titled 'La Banane', which means having a large smile [similar to a banana]. "It's a universal idea. I'm not sure about the US, but in France, this resonates with people with an impairment. There are often people with the idea, 'Oh, poor thing, he can't do this, he can't do that', so the idea behind 'La Banane' is to say, 'Voila, here is a typical journey for a person with an impairment. My life is full of projects, and it doesn't stop me from being equal, nor does it dim my smile'." (paralympic.org, 08 Sep 2020; mouv.fr, 07 Nov 2019; Facebook page, 02 Oct 2019; france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr, 23 Aug 2018; sans-filtre