Laurent Tillie: The great motivator

Tokyo, Japan, June 3, 2016 – Laurent Tillie is the man responsible for France’s recent surge in the world stage, now he has a tough task to end their 12-year absence from the Olympic Games, as they try to reach the final stage with one more win at the Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Tokyo.

Tillie was privileged to be part of two Olympic Games as a player at Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992. Now, the former France captain guides the team to earn their fourth Olympic Games appearance.

France have had their fair share of ups-and-downs on the road to the Olympic Games. After an impressive run at the 2015 World League and the European Championship, France missed qualification to Rio 2016 as they fell to Russia in the final of the continental Olympic qualifiers. However, they were given one last shot as runners-up to compete at the world qualifiers.

Tillie was only able to gather his players in less than a month as they have busy schedules with their respective clubs.

“Until now we are just playing with enthusiasm because we have nothing to lose,” Tillie said. “We arrived here with a lot of pressure and stress coming from the long club season. My players are playing in different clubs with many matches and they are exhausted. So, when you are exhausted and your are not a …

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