The containment was a trigger, I trained more alone, "said Tuesday the world record holder of the decathlon Kevin Mayer, who decided to separate from his trainer Bertrand Valcin after 12 years of joint work.
Why separate from Bertrand Valcin?
Kevin Mayer:This is something that I have carefully thought about. It is an initiative that I am taking, it is not because Bertrand is of no use to me. It's been 12 years since we founded a coach / coach relationship that went far beyond. Today I have the impression that we know each other too well to contribute a lot now. I chose to go to specialists in each discipline (French and foreign). The confinement was a trigger, I trained more on my own, something that suited me because I was more enterprising, more attentive to myself. I asked less of others, suddenly I asked more of myself, it created unexpected sessions at the performance level (...) I will not self-coach. I always need a bit of both: advice to give me intentions, but also to be alone to control these intentions.
What will be your new organization?
Kevin Mayer: In competition I can count on Romain Barras (European champion in 2010) from the French Athletics Federation, who knows me a lot, and Jérôme Simian (his physical trainer). I plan to add a third, which will be there as a group analyst. I seek to quantify my training, create a database to avoid states of excessive fatigue and therefore avoid injuries. I am looking for a person to follow me in all my training, all my muscu, full time. I have to choose carefully (...) I remain based in Montpellier. I noticed during confinement that the lack of movement allowed me to rest better. I will try to move as little as possible.
Do you see this strong choice just over a year from the Tokyo Olympics?
Kevin Mayer: I'm very excited, I love new things, I like to take responsibility. If it does not work it will only be my fault, I can only blame myself. I know where I want to go. What I like most is progressing every day, feeling new sensations the next day. If I rest on my laurels I would like my sport less, so I continue to go for it (...) I hope to soon have a competition to get my teeth into ... I looked after all my little sores of the last year. I have progressed, I expect a lot from the next competitions, I hope to break a lot of records.
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