Flapi

I photographed this memorial in the park of the chateau/town hall in Chateau-Renault, in case the subject turned out to be an amazingly interesting person. I couldn't be sure at the time though because I'd never heard of Yves Leroy, and had no idea why his nickname might be 'Flapi', or what a crossman was or the USR.

The memorial says: Sports trail Yves Leroy called 'Flapi'. Cross country runner national level. Facilitator at the USR from 1947 to 1978.

It turns out that the memorial was erected for the centenary of the Cross Country and Athletics Sporting Union of Chateau-Renault, in 2020. Yves Leroy was a great cross country champion who devoted his life to the club, from 1947 to 1978, becoming a trainer, and then the president. So, 'cross' is French for cross country running, and a 'crossman' is a cross country runner. So far so good.

Leroy was dubbed 'Flapi' because at the end of a marathon in 1927 he declared to a journalist that 'je ne suis pas flapi'. It would be like an anglophone athlete saying something like 'I'm not knackered'.

The USR is the Union Sportive Renaudine, ie the sports club to which he belonged all his life.