Joubert, Depouilly to join forces till Team Trophy
Frenchman previously worked with this coach in 2004 and 2005
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| Brian Joubert pumps his fist in 2004 after clinching his first European gold medal, back when he first worked under Laurent Depouilly. (Getty Images) |
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By Jean-Christophe Berlot, special to icenetwork.com
(04/03/2009) - The French Federation just announced the name of Brian Joubert's coach for the next two weeks: Laurent Depouilly. Depouilly will coach Joubert up to the ISU World Team Trophy, to be held in Tokyo, from April 16-19.
Depouilly coached Joubert in 2004 and 2005, during which time the Frenchman won his first European gold medal. In 2005, however, the duo split. Joubert thought Depouilly was not professional enough, and Depouilly argued that Joubert was not practicing hard enough.
After this first two-week period, the French Federation has plans to ask several skating experts to coach Joubert in all aspects of his skating -- spins, steps, choreography and artistic impression. Their names remain unknown, though. Whether Depouilly and Joubert can work fruitfully again may affect what solution is finally adopted. Time is ticking away, with only 10 months before the start of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.