Thibault Giroud (born 9 March 1974 in

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

) is a French

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

coach working as the Performance Director for the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

national team. He was previously a strength and conditioning coach for

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

. He previously played for NFL Europe (American football) as a Running Back; trained as a Sprinter; as an Olympic Bobsleigher; then a

player and now strength & conditioning coach with various rugby teams.

Athletic career

Skiing

Giroud grew up in Biarritz where his first love was skiing. He stated: "I was skiing competitions, slalom, downhill, but it was expensive."

American football

In adolescence, Giroud became interested in American football which was then gaining a foothold in Europe. New teams were being created. Spotted by a scout of Dartmouth College at a track meeting at Grenoble, Giroud got a scholarship and was drafted by the New York Jets, although he did not play in the NFL in America. Back in France, Thibault played for Grenoble Centaurs and was then called up by the French international side. He moved to Canada to play for the Victoria Bills in Quebec. He stayed in North America for 18 months. He returned to Europe to play in the NFL Europe from 1995 to 1997. He played for Munich Thunder. That club folded after one year and then Giroud moved to play for

Amsterdam Crusaders The Amsterdam Crusaders are an American Football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands. Together with the Rotterdam Trojans and Alphen Eagles, Amsterdam Crusaders are the oldest surviving Dutch American Football club. Beginnings The Crusaders starte ...

and the

Barcelona Dragons Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Barcelona Dragons: * Barcelona Dragons (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 1991 and 2003; * Barcelona Dragons (ELF) The Barcelona Dragons are an American football team based in ...

Bob sleigh

Giroud moved back to winter sports after the American Football boom in Europe subsided in 1997. A chance meeting with Prince Albert, of Monaco - a noted sportsman and veteran of the Winter Olympics - convinced him to try out for the Monaco bob sleigh team. From 1998 to 2002 he switched to the French team as a bob sleigher, the culmination of which was being part of the 2002 France Winter Olympic Squad and their 4-man team entry to the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, USA in 2002.

Sprinting

That same year, 2002, provided another chance meeting with

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

n sprinter

Frankie Fredericks Frank "Frankie" Fredericks (born 2 October 1967) is a former track and field athlete from Namibia. Running in the 100 metres and 200 metres, he won four silver medals at the Olympic Games (two in 1992 and two in 1996), making him Namibia's only ...

takes Giroud into the world of sprinting. Giroud was marked as running 100 metres in 10.53 seconds. Training with Fredericks in Namibia and South Africa brings Giroud into the realms of another sport.

Rugby Union

Through Fredericks, Thibault first helped train the

Namibia national rugby union team The Namibia national rugby union team represents Namibia in men's international rugby union competitions nicknamed the Welwitschias, are a tier-two nation in the World Rugby tier system, and have participated in five Rugby World Cup competition ...

. In 2003, Giroud was to meet

Andre Markgraaff Andries Thomas "Andre" Markgraaff (born 23 December 1956) is a retired South African rugby union lock. He matriculated at Diamantveld High School and was a controversial national coach, who resigned after he was taped using the racial K-word. ...

, the former Springboks coach, who convinced him to give

a try as a player. From Markgraaf he is introduced to Jean-Patrick Mourenon, manager of the South African rugby side

Leopards The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...

and he joins his side as a

Wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

. He also starts as a training coach with the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

(then known as the Cats). His strength and speed were noted by

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

who signed him both as a wing and as a strength and conditioning coach for season 2003-04. This was to be the end of his playing career and from then onwards he became a full-time coach.

Coaching career

He moved back to France to Pau who recruited him as a strength and conditioning coach in 2004.

Rugby League

Giroud then moved to rugby league first with Harlequins, now

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

, from 2005 - and then onto the

Celtic Crusaders Crusaders Rugby League ( cy, Croesgadwyr Rygbi'r Gynghrair) was a professional rugby league club based in Bridgend and later in Wrexham, Wales. They played for six seasons in the Rugby Football League competitions, including three years in the ...

in Wales at the start of 2007.

Rugby Union

Moving back to rugby union, Thibault signed for

Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine which competes in the Pro D2, the second division of French rugby. Biarritz p ...

. He stayed there for five seasons.

Consulting and Academic work

Thibault lectured at the Claude Bernard University of Lyon in France. He taught 'Intervening in the Physical Preparation in collective sports' which is a European Diploma (DUEPP). In 2014, he started consulting for Addalyst High Performance Sports Services in Cleveland Ohio, USA. He also advises for Journal L'équipe, the French sports newspaper. He then moved to the Sports consultant firm The Athlete Factory as a Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach In 2015, he was the co-author of the paper: Strategies to maintain body temperature and physical performance in professional rugby union players.

Glasgow Warriors

On 15 June 2016 it was announced that Giroud had secured a two-year deal to be a Strength and Conditioning Coach at

Toulon

Giroud left the Warriors in the summer of 2017 to move back to France with

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giroud, Thibault 1974 births Living people Barcelona Dragons (NFL Europe) players Bobsledders at the 2002 Winter Olympics French male bobsledders French rugby league coaches French rugby union coaches French rugby union players Glasgow Warriors coaches Leopards (rugby union) players Olympic bobsledders for France Rugby union players from Isère Rugby union strength and conditioning coaches Saracens F.C. players Expatriate sports coaches French expatriate rugby union players in England French expatriate rugby union players