Alex Lanier: Badminton Prodigy & Family Challenges

They have a dream. In two years, father and son could meet at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. “That would be really cool,” smiles David Lanier. The fifty-year-old is the meteorologist of the French sailing teamwith whom he has already made five Olympic appearances. Himself a former very high-level sailing sailor, he is Alex Lanier’s fatherinternational badminton star. David will be on the staff of the French sailing team in 2028. Alex, eighth player in the world, will begin the qualification process on May 1, 2027. Barring a disaster, he will also get his ticket.

A competition at home

Alex Lanier is the story of a prodigy from Ranville, in Calvados, who became the youngest senior European champion. The gifted will tackle the French championships, of which he is the title holder, Saturday February 7, 2026 at the Palais des Sports in Caen. The native of the thousand-year-old city will perform in front of his family. This hasn’t happened in eight years. His parents, who have gotten into the habit of getting up in the middle of the night to watch their son’s matches when he plays on the other side of the world, will be at the forefront. “It’s practical,” notes David. In a quarter of an hour by car, we are there. »

After a week of intense training at Insepbase camp of the bad French, Alex Lanier found his home on Thursday evening. “He receives a lot of messages, he feels that there is a enthusiasm,” observed his father a few hours earlier. It is getting into his head and motivating him. » In terms of priorities, the French championships are far from the European and World championships, or the most prestigious tournaments in which Alex Lanier participates. But the competition formula over just two days and, of course, the local dimension of the event makes it a special flavor.

A very present family unit

Alex Lanier was not yet fifteen years old when he left Normandy to join Insep. France then came out of the first confinement. Many aspiring athletes had suffered from isolation. Alex Lanier had come out stronger.

The fact of having continued to play at home with his brother (Théo, who was a national medalist among young people, editor’s note) and of having done a lot of muscle strengthening had contributed to developing him physically, but also intellectually and morally.

David Lanier had played the role of a very knowledgeable father. “I have high level knowledge so I am sometimes a little more than a parenthe admits. It’s an alchemy to find. The leaders are the coaches at Insep. There may be disagreements and we discuss them. It’s teamwork. The family unit is integrated into it. » It is first and foremost a moral support, but not only that. ” There is enormous logistics to manage around competitions. Most of the work is done by the federation, but we are always on standby to help. Otherwise, Alex wouldn’t make it. »

“As we suspected, we anticipated”

Not so long ago, it was also Alex’s parents who took care of the financial part. “Given the scale of the prize money and discussions about partnerships, he has an agent who helps him manage all this. » An excellent result in a major tournament can result in a six-figure sum. The best players “earn a very good living”, even if a career is short and often comes at the expense of long studies.

Our role as parents is also to make him aware that the money he earns must be preserved and taken care of. It’s pretty stable compared to that.

All these subjects, the Laniers were able to prepare them. As a child, Alex Lanier was already promised a bright future. “Given his performances at a very young age and the progression curves, we expected it to fall on us as parents. As we suspected, we anticipated. » Here again, parental experience was valuable. “We see it in all sports: when the parents have achieved a very high level, it is facilitative for the child. » There is the discourse, around work and healthy living in particular, and there is the network. “We know where we can find the skills. »

“Even if we expected it, it’s surprising”

David and Estelle, who works at the OCEAN nautical center in Ouistreham, are “proud” parents, as is big brother Théo, but they display the same measured character as their champion son. “We continue to monitor our sporting project while keeping a cool head. We must not get carried away when there are very good results, nor panic when they are less good. » In an elite that requires you to put your work back into practice every day, you also have to savor the great moments.

When Alex becomes the youngest player to win a Super 750 (the equivalent of a Master 1000 in tennis, editor’s note), even if we expect him to do it one day, it’s surprising. Afterwards, you have to continue.

Particularly astute observers, the parents of Alex Lanier “arrive[nt] to see very quickly if he is in good stance, good on his legs from the first points.” They leave the technical debriefs to the coaches. “We send him nice little words by message. » Sometimes the family manages to come together for a tournament. Alex can thus move from a five-star hotel, the ones he generally frequents during major Asian tournaments, to a much more modest rental. “It’s very good!” The young person who only stays in five-star hotels with no return to normal life can quickly turn his head. »

This is not the case for Alex Lanier. The young man remained very simple. “When he comes home with his brother, they will fight in the bed. They have fun, they bicker. » Sometimes the brothers play golf together. Alex is quite comfortable exercising. “For the amount of times he’s played golf, he has skills. » The opposite would have surprised us.

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