Thierry Gilardi
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Thierry Gilardi (26 July 1958 – 25 March 2008) was a French
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
commentator.


Biography

Gilardi was born in
Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the ÃŽle-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. ...
,
Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the ÃŽle-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
ancestry. He was an avid reader of the French sports newspaper ''
L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...
'' from the age of six. He had always been passionate about sport, especially
Rugby Union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
. He began playing at 11 years old at the Saint-Germain-en-Laye school of rugby and continued to play until the age of 28. In an interview with reporter Nicolas Augot about rugby, for a special edition of the French monthly magazine ''Attitude Rugby'' focused on
Stade Français Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French ...
, he said: "Saint-Germain-en-Laye is the chief town of the
Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the ÃŽle-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.ÃŽle-de-France The ÃŽle-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...
. We must not forget that the ÃŽle-de-France rugby community is the biggest in France by the number of licensed players and that the Saint-Germain-en-Laye club was the nursery for such players as the French fly-half,
Franck Mesnel Franck Mesnel (born 30 June 1961, Neuilly-sur-Seine) is a former French rugby union footballer. He played as a fly-half and as a centre. He is the founder of the French rugby and leisure clothing brand Eden Park. The company was founded in 1987 ...
." He was married and the father of three children. Along with his career as a journalist, he was, at the beginning of the 1990s, the president of Saint-Germain-en-Laye rugby club, before handing over the role to Marcel Martin. From 1997, he was vice-president of Stade Français rugby club.


Career

A graduate of the
Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...
, Gilardi began his career as a journalist with an internship in television in 1982 at France Inter, under the direction of
Arlette Chabot Arlette Chabot (born 21 July 1951) is a prominent French journalist and political commentator. She was until August 2010 the head of the editorial team of France 2. In March 2011 she moved to the radio station Europe 1 to become head of news and i ...
, where he was eventually taken on. He later worked with Pierre Loctin and Jacques Vendroux on football programs. Wanting to specialize in
rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
, he had to be content with football, quoting "Football is my job; rugby is my passion. When I started in the profession, sports journalists were always pushed in the direction of football, but I am happy to cover any sport." From 1987 until his death, he commented, presented, edited, and led many sports programs on French television. Behind the scenes, he took on other roles, with responsibilities for the drafting of sports programs on the French encrypted channel. He was editor and head of football from 1997 to 1999, then editor-in-chief and sports managing editor of sports at
Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
from 1999 to 2001. In 2005, he left Canal+ to rejoin
TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...
to present the Sunday program
Téléfoot ''Téléfoot'' is a French football programme produced by TF1 Production for TF1. The programme was created by Pierre Cangioni in 1977 to show French Division 1 highlights. Téléfoot now covers France international matches, European club c ...
, replacing the iconic Thierry Roland. He was commentator and pundit for the matches in the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
, for all French internationals, and the
2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...
, alongside
Jean-Michel Larqué Jean-Michel Larqué (born 8 September 1947) is a French former professional footballer, and now a sports journalist. He has also been player-coach of RC Paris, his only experience as head-coach. Career Larqué was born in Bizanos, Pyrénées-A ...
. From September 2005 to June 2006, he co-presented ''LCI Morning'' with
Mélissa Theuriau Mélissa Theuriau (; born 18 July 1978) is a French journalist and news anchor for M6. She studied journalism and became a television news presenter. She is the former anchor and co-editor in chief of '' Zone interdite'' on French TV. Early car ...
. In 2007, he commentated on matches of the
Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...
on TF1 alongside
Thierry Lacroix Thierry Lacroix (born 2 March 1967) is a former French rugby union footballer. He won 43 caps playing at fly-half for the French rugby union side. He made his international test debut in Strasbourg at the age of 22 on 4 November 1989, coming ...
and on the programme ''Télérugby''. His voice has also been heard in the series of ''FIFA'' football video games produced by
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
. His last match for TF1 was the return match between
Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...
and
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on 4 March 2008, and his last programme was ''Téléfoot'' on 23 March.


Death

On 24 March 2008, after a dinner between friends, he complained of back pain and suffered a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
at 3 a.m. (local time) at his home in
Montfort-l'Amaury Montfort-l'Amaury () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the ÃŽle-de-France region, Northern France. It is located north of Rambouillet. The name comes from Amaury I de Montfort, the first ''seigneur'' (lord) of Montfort. Geography ...
. On the spot,
paramedics A paramedic is a healthcare professional trained in the medical model, whose main role has historically been to respond to emergency calls for medical help outside of a hospital. Paramedics work as part of the emergency medical services (EMS), m ...
tried to revive him and took him to the hospital at
Port-Marly Le Port-Marly () is a commune in the outer western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the Yvelines department in the ÃŽle-de-France region, north of Versailles. In 2019, Le Port-Marly had a population of 5,481. Population See also * C ...
, where his health condition deteriorated sharply during the day. At around 4 p.m, Thierry Gilardi died, aged 49, following a second heart attack, on the eve of a friendly football match between France and
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, on which he was due to commentate for TF1. The tribute of a minute's silence and the wearing of black armbands as a sign of
mourning Mourning is the emotional expression in response to a major life event causing grief, especially loss. It typically occurs as a result of someone's death, especially a loved one. The word is used to describe a complex of behaviors in which t ...
by the French players and the Stade Français rugby team, a few days later, showed the emotions of the world of sport throughout France. Additionally,
Franck Ribéry Franck Henry Pierre Ribéry (; born 7 April 1983) is a French former professional footballer who primarily played as a winger, preferably on the left side, and was known for his pace, energy, skill, and precise passing. He is regarded as one ...
was booked for removing his shirt to show a tribute to Gilardi after scoring. Jean-Michel Larqué, a friend of Gilardi's, was so shocked by his death he was unable to comment the match. Gilardi's funeral took place on 31 March 2008, in the presence of numerous sports and TV personalities. He was buried in the cemetery of Montfort-l'Amaury.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilardi, Thierry 1958 births 2008 deaths People from Saint-Germain-en-Laye Association football commentators Rugby union commentators French sports journalists French television personalities Sciences Po alumni French people of Italian descent French male non-fiction writers 20th-century French male writers