Quick Facts
Biography
Jean-Claude Perrin, born on May 4, 1936, in Choignes (Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine) is a former trainer in French athletics.
Biography
Perrin entered the world of athletics following a military career where he held the position of piloting mate in the French army. He completed a programme at the INSEP (Institut National des Sports et de l'Eductation Physique) before joining the “Racing Club de France”. He specialised in pole-vaulting, which under his lead and that of another national trainer, Maurice Houvion, became, for a time, a French speciality.
The athletes trained by him established 20 world records, won 10 European and World championship titles, and 8 were finalists at the Olympics. In 1976, during the Montreal Games, one of his protégés ended up just shy of the podium as: Patrick Abada was 4th, with Jean-Michel Bellot ending up 7th. The peak of Perrin's career came with the Olympic Games of Los Angeles, in 1984, where two of his athletes climbed the podium: Pierre Quinon won the Olympic title, and Thierry Vigneron the bronze medal.
Taken together, Perrin's results as a trainer enabled him to obtain the Pierre-Paul Heckly Prize from the Académie des Sports in 1978, jointly with Maurice Houvion.
Extremely versatile in sports, Perrin for a while took part in the Matra Racing initiative launched by Jean-Luc Lagardère. But he obtained his best results in football with the capital's other club, Paris Saint-Germain. He also gave advice regarding physical preparation, and thus became part of the team who won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1996.
He also gave his advice in another sport, tennis. Yannick Noah, then leader of the French team of the Davis Cup, entrusted him with the physical preparation for the men's and the women's teams. France won the Davis Cup in 1991 in Lyon, against the American team under the leadership of the one who would become number one worldwide, Pete Sampras, and did this again in 1996, in Sweden.
He often held a position as a consultant on the Europe 1 station during important athletics competitions.
In July 2011, he trained the blue team on the French television show L'Etoffe des champions, a show presented by Alexandre Ruiz, on France 3.
Awards
Jean-Claude Perrin was awarded the Légion d'Honneur in January 2013, and became an Officer of the Légion d'Honneur in October 2015.
Clubs
- "Racing Club de France"
- Matra Racing
- Paris Saint-Germain FC