Jean-Claude Perrin

Jean-Claude Perrin, born on May 4, 1936, in Choignes (Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine) is a former trainer in French athletics.

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.

...
Wikipedia