Annie Sarrat named head coach of the French national short track team

Annie Sarrat is the new head coach of the French National Short Track Team. 

Text: Jackob Savard

Photo: Stéphanie Jutras / CPVPAT

Annie Sarrat will be the new head coach of the French national team in Font-Romeu and will be in charge of restructuring the French short track program. Former short track skater Thibault Méline will be the assistant coach. Sarrat plans to leave Quebec for France at the end of June and will take up her duties on July 13. 

She is in part responsible for the development of some of Canada's best skaters including Steven Dubois, Pascal Dion, Maxime Laoun, and Camille Deserres-Rainville, all of whom spent part of their careers at the Pointe-aux-Trembles club coached by Sarrat. As a skater, she wore the colours of France and notably participated in the 1995 World Junior Championships.

The state of French short track

French speed skating is at a turning point in its history with the recent retirements of Véronique Pierron and Thibaut Fauconnet. Experienced skaters Sébastien Lepape and Tifany Huot-Marchand are still there while promising young skaters like Aurélie Monvoisin, Diané Sellier, Quentin Fercoq and Gabriel Volet are moving up the ladder and are already starting to make a name for themselves internationally.

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