Maud Garnier: from Gazelle to organizer
It is hard to sum up the career of this young woman who has already lived many lives. Miss Pays de la Loire, former participant in French reality show Koh-Lanta, an event manager in Hong Kong for the 2008 Olympic Games… Maud has always been used to getting out of her comfort zone. Meet an adventurer with a big heart:
7-time Gazelle
Maud was only 26 the first time she did the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc in 2003. “I knew about the Rallye, I had heard a lot about it and really wanted to do it. They called Amel [Fatnassi, with whom she did Koh-Lanta in 2002] and me to make up a team of ‘adventurers’ to represent Nissan/Yahoo. That’s how it all started, and at the same time, we were raising awareness for Enfance et Partage.” Maud clearly remembers being very relaxed going into her first Rallye, one of just 65 teams at the time: “After doing Koh-Lanta, without eating, sleeping in the forest, we thought we were bound to be more comfortable. But we weren’t counting on the navigation. I have to admit that we weren’t very good. We really became aware of the level of difficulty once we were in the desert. We didn’t find very many checkpoints, we were exhausted, it was very hard, but it was great, all the Gazelles really got to know each other…”
Unforgettable memories
Fifteen years later, the former Gazelle looks back with nostalgia at those times in the desert. She repeated the experience from 2003 to 2006, and again in 2013 to 2015 with Miss France 2004, Laëtitia Bléger. “I learned more every time I did it. I learned from my mistakes and got better and better because I was literally caught up in the game. I miss both of those adventures. Your worst misadventures become your fondest memories... there’s something masochistic about it.” Maud and Laëtitia formed a well-balanced team and the two Gazelles complemented each other well: Maud took care of the navigation while Laëtitia did the driving, except in a few extreme cases. One year there was a sandstorm, but we didn’t want to lose any time by stopping. Visibility was only 3 metres in front of the car; I drove and Laëtitia walked in front of the car for 20 kilometres in her ski mask to keep moving forward and stick to the heading. We had some tense moments, but we trusted our abilities and I will always remember how it felt when we saw the checkpoint we were looking for. We burst into tears, it was gruelling but so amazing. It’s surreal when you think about it, we gave it everything we had just to find a flag in the middle of nowhere.”
A teaching role since 2015
Today, at age 41, Maud has put rallying aside. After years of experience working in event organization for different sports organizations (the Olympic Games, Roland-Garros), Rallye founder and director Dominique Serra and team relations manager Marina Vrillacq asked her if she would be interested in joining the team. “The fact that I’m a former Gazelle and that I have worked in the domain helped the pieces to fall into place. In the space of three weeks, I changed my life, I moved to Paris and then to Avignon. I was already aware of the organization and setup required for this type of event so it’s not hard for me, I can answer all the Gazelles’ questions, I’ve been there myself.”
Maud also trains teams in navigation along with Jean Brossard, Valérie Serra-Maudet and Serge Barbieux. This day and a half course is mandatory for all Gazelles. “Now I’m really in the business of sharing and teaching.” As Maud a strong character and she enjoys taking on new challenges, she became project manager of the Gazelles and Men Rally, a version of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles for men’s and mixed teams, launched last November. “It was great, we had 28 teams, everyone knew each other and the men had a good understanding of the rally’s concept.” A message for the Gazelles of this 28th edition? “Communicate with each other, live your adventure the way you want it, be free set yourselves the same objectives and have faith in yourselves.” Perhaps one day Maud will return to the desert as a competitor…
