Alight in
Luxembourg
After two pain-filled years, Christophe
Lazzarin finds reasons to shine again
By John Crumlish
THEteenageyearscanbeladen with angst, but a compound of physical and emotional aches have made them particularly painful for 17-
year-old Luxembourg gymnast Christophe
Lazzarin. Three injuries, his parents’ separation
and academic struggles have threatened
Lazzarin’s promising international career, but his
results thus far in 2009 indicate the gradual
restoration of his confidence.
In Lazzarin’s first meet of the year, a national
test event, he scored 71.80 in the all-around. He
notched 73.80 in his next meet, the Attila Pinter
Memorial in Austria in April. He improved to
75.80 in his third meet, the Flemish championships, held in Belgium in early May. Lazzarin
placed eighth all-around and made five event
finals at the XIII Games of the Small States of
Lazzarin with coach Manfred Diehl
Europe, held in Cyprus in June.
Lazzarin, who is now aiming for
next year’s European junior championships, says his two-point boost at
each of his first three meets in 2009 verifies his
rekindled enthusiasm. “The simple answer is
motivation—motivation to go further after all
that happened,” he says.
Following his parents’ separation in February,
2007, Lazzarin suffered consecutive injuries to
his leg, groin and thigh that kept him from training consistently all last year. Lazzarin isolated
himself from his teammates—“I was living in my
own world”—and made poor grades in school.
Realizing that his athletic and academic futures
were at stake, he sought counseling.
“The injuries came after the separation, and
because of it,” Lazzarin says. “My negative atti-
“Gymnastics was “Gymnastics was
all I had, and it all I had, and it
helped me to come helped me to come
out of the dark.” out of the dark.”
tude about everything made me lock up against
everyone. I got help from a sports psychologist
since I couldn’t handle it on my own.”
Others have also contributed to Lazzarin’s
renewed sense of self-assurance. Last year the
Luxembourg Gymnastics Federation invited him
to enroll in a newly created sport school, on the
campus of the national team training center in
Luxembourg City.
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“This was despite my bad results in school,”
Lazzarin says. “I saw it as a unique chance, and
this was motivation enough for me to go on and
do my best. Gymnastics was all I had, and it
helped me to come out of the dark. My results in
school got better and I saw many things brighten
up again.”
Lazzarin’s perspective on his parents’ roles is
a combination of gratitude and resentment. “My
mom let me choose to continue gymnastics or
do something else,” Lazzarin says. “Since I didn’t know any other sport I stayed with gymnastics. She always drove me to workouts. I do not
have any contact with my dad since the separation. I couldn’t understand why he left my mom.
I think that, if I had contact, I would relapse afterwards!”
In the gym, Lazzarin can focus on less emotional issues. He wants to succeed for his own
good, and in the process help lift the
Luxembourg team to the international level
reached by neighbors such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. For inspiration, Lazzarin
looks to 2008 Luxembourg Olympian Sascha
Palgen. Both Lazzarin and Palgen train under
national team coach Manfred Diehl.
“By good international results, we can draw
attention to Luxembourg, like Sascha is doing
with his results in the last couple of years,”
Lazzarin says. “I bet he still can surprise many
people in the coming years. We other gymnasts
want to do this also. I try to be a good team player and an example for the younger gymnasts,
like Sascha is for me.”
The persistent Lazzarin already is. IG
