For Alexandre Léauté, Paralympic track champion, it’s gold after depression

Paralympic champion in the specialty, he started with a victory in the individual pursuit. “We were going for this title, the rest would be a bonus. But the good times freed me up for the races afterwards,” he believes. In the process, he was crowned over the kilometer, with a world record to boot (52”663), then he won the scratch, and therefore the omnium. “These were more than successful World Championships. I only get positive things from it! »

“I had to get through this, learn to say ‘no!’”

Obviously, by achieving the same quadruplet as in 2022, at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, we cannot help but imagine him again on the Ile-de-France track which will host the Paralympic Games in five months (August 28 -September 8). But he refuses to project himself. He knows that the deadline is still far away. There is still work to do, and perhaps pitfalls along the way. In just one sentence, Alexandre Léauté admits that he suffered from depression during the first two months of the year. “It really wasn’t going well until very recently,” he slips. The only thing that saved me a little was the bike. But I didn’t give up. »

At the moment of explaining his temporary discomfort, the Breton who deals with a partial impairment of mobility on the right side, following a stroke at birth, points out the overflow of requests. Since he revealed himself in Japan, with four medals, and was designated flag bearer for the closing ceremony, his exploits have continued to intensify his popularity. “I wanted to say yes to everything so as not to offend anyone. I was afraid of being unpleasant. But I had to get through this, learn to say ‘no’. I finally realized that if I didn’t do it, my body would give out. Her head had already given way…”

Behind the smile, we can guess the doubts that then polluted his mind. “I already wanted to be in September, for everything to be over. It’s a mistake that I made at the Tokyo Games but that I never want to repeat. I want to enjoy every moment. » But how can you benefit when you are struggling against insidious demons? “I didn’t feel justified in feeling bad,” he says. I’m living something amazing, I’m making a living from my job, lots of people would dream of being in my place. In my life, everything is extraordinary even though I know that, for some, it is difficult to get up in the morning to go to work. I couldn’t allow myself to complain. »

During this foggy period, he held on thanks to the weeks of training with the France team. “But when I came home on the weekend, there was nothing. I trained alone, the weather wasn’t good in Brittany… The only thing that kept me entertained during the day was going cycling. The rest of the time, I was in my room, shutters closed, watching Netflix. »

“Five gold medals at the Games are almost mission impossible. It could be a dream, but I want to be honest with myself”

To avoid worrying her, he says nothing to his family, even visits a psychologist behind their backs. “As I became a little unpleasant on a daily basis, my parents asked themselves questions. One evening, they caught me between eyes, at the end of February, and I ended up explaining to them. » On the other hand, he agreed to rely on his sporting entourage. “What perhaps also helped me was that I knew it wasn’t right, I knew I had to talk about it. Although at first I wanted to try to fend for myself, as usual,” he grimaces.

Very quickly, however, he confided in Mathieu Jeanne, his trainer, Kevin Le Cunff and Thomas Peyroton-Dartet, who became much more than teammates. “They took my head out of the water. I still don’t feel justified in complaining, but I’m better, so it’s more bearable,” he promises. Slowly, the cloud dissipated.

Just before flying to Brazil, he accepted an invitation from Emmanuel Macron to dine at the Élysée. But he did not dare to disabuse him when the president asked him if he would win five gold medals this summer, like the number of world titles won last summer. “I couldn’t see myself explaining the categories to him, the fact that we are grouped together for certain events. If it had only been the two of us, I would have allowed it, but there were other athletes, people around, we had to let everyone speak, apologizes Alexandre Léauté. Five gold medals at the Games is almost mission impossible. It could be a dream, but I want to be honest with myself. »

For example, the scratch and the omnium that he has just won are not on the Paralympic program, the kilometer brings together categories C1 to C3, with factors depending on handicaps. In this case, in Rio, if we have fun with this calculation, we still see that the Frenchman would have won. “Three titles would already be great. Maybe also a medal in the road race, and even one in team speed. I believe it ! » Last week, the trio he makes up with Kevin Le Cunff and Dorian Foulon stumbled on the podium (4th). But he still has room for improvement in a new configuration. “I think we found a good strategy,” insists Alexandre Léauté. Time will tell.