After eleven careers at the highest level, two world champion titles, two Olympic silver medals and a world record, an athlete begins to know his needs. For a year, Kevin Mayer has completed the establishment of his microcosm, the one which must accompany him towards the climax of his career: the Olympic Games in Paris, next year.
At the world championships in Budapest, Friday August 25 and Saturday August 26, the French decathlete will try to win a third coronation, after his successes in 2017 and 2022… if he reaches the end of the competition despite pain in his Achilles tendon which he publicly announced at a press conference, three days before his entry into the running.
In two years, between 2020 and May 2022, Mayer changed everything: he first separated from his historic coach Bertrand Valcin, then from his physical trainer Jérôme Simian. Now he works with one of his childhood friends, coach Alexandre Bonacorsi; one of his four brothers, Thomas Mayer, who takes care of the extra-sporting development of his career; and finally his partner, Delphine Jariel, his personal physiotherapist. It was this team that surrounded the thirties, last year, during the quest for his second world title in Eugene (Oregon).
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In full summer preparation more than a month and a half before entering the competition, the champion received The world at home, in Montpellier, surrounded by his relatives, who now constitute his management. “The end of the collaboration with Jérôme did not revolutionize everything. I took his responsibilities and I gave a little to Alexandre. And I recruited Delphine as a physio”he explains.
Extremely meticulous, passionate about the different techniques of a multidisciplinary sport and a fine connoisseur of his own body, Kevin Mayer has accumulated experience over the years. “I learned rigor and discipline with my former coaches, he analyzes. It’s a constant journey. You don’t need the same things at each stage of your career. If I’ve been so successful, it’s because I’ve always felt what I needed at that moment. » And to insist with malice: “I feel like I don’t make too many mistakes. »
“Today I don’t need my ass kicked”
At 31, the needs of the Drôme have changed. Mirroring an old slogan of May 68, the emancipation of Kevin Mayer will be total or will not be. “Today, I don’t need my ass kicked at all, I already kick it too much on my own, he pleads. That’s why it’s a good time to have my loved ones around me, the ones I listen to when they tell me to calm down and who have the most impactful words when things are not going well. »
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2023-08-25 08:10:06
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