Axel, how did you manage the reconfinement and did it disrupt your preparation for the European Championship?
Axel Clerget:
As a high-level athlete, I was able to continue to train or go to the physiotherapist, so it was much easier to manage than the confinement of March-April.
My professional daily life has not been too disrupted and it is a real chance when I see everything that is happening elsewhere.
Like everyone else, I've kept my social life to a minimum but to be honest as long as I can work out I'm super happy.
Has the lack of competitions weighed on you?
Yes, of course.
It will be my first competition since the last tournament in Paris in early February.
I don't think I have known such a long period without competition.
Now, this is not due only to Covid-19 as far as I am concerned because I have been in rehabilitation for 5-6 months due to a pubalgia.
We had to take care of her because of the health crisis and the postponement of the Olympic Games to 2021. So on these European Championships, I am in total recovery.
Somehow, can we say that it is therefore a matter of evil for good, that this period without competition allowed you to perk up physically?
If the Games had taken place as planned in 2020, I had planned to play the ostrich policy and I would have taken part in it by “filling in” the breaches of this pubalgie with infiltrations and specific work.
I felt really ready for this deadline and the injury would have held.
But with the postponement, it was no longer possible to stick to this strategy for one more year.
So we had to take the evil by the horns, either by operating or by re-educating.
This is why I opted for this long rehabilitation which, for the moment, holds and avoids the operation box.
It's not final and the European Championship will allow me to take stock of the situation as well.
So to come back to your question, no, it wasn't a bad thing for good because I would have preferred to experience the games, win a medal or a title and come back today for a great vacation (laughs).
So, what will be your ambition for these European Championships?
Already, it's a huge pleasure to come back to competition.
As such, I have a thought for my partner Cyril Maret who, due to an accident, is currently fighting in rehabilitation.
It is also a pleasure to be able to set off again in a high level dynamic.
After that, it will be a recovery after eight months without competition and an injury, so with only one month of judo in the legs and arms.
It's very little but with my experience, I go there anyway with the ambition to get on the podium.
I know myself and I know that in the past, I have already managed to obtain good medals in particular and far from ideal conditions.
Do you have physical fears of resuming with a competition such as the European Championships?
It will be a good indicator.
If it hadn't been for this injury, I would have told you no because in training, I know how to put myself in conditions close to competition.
So I have no concerns about this.
But I know that these European Championships mark the start of the Olympic year and today is not the time to be as sharp as ever.
You talk a lot about the Games. Do you try to keep up to date with information regarding their possible cancellation to stay 100% motivated?
A month and a half ago, I heard the Japanese authorities and the IOC Vice-President claiming that the Games would be held, at worst behind closed doors, and I stayed on that.
I focus on what I control.
Maintaining the Games is not one of them, it will be decided well above the little athlete that I am.
I will try to act on my training, my rehabilitation, my technique… The rest depends on world health and I will see what will happen.
In view of the sport you do, are you even more vigilant about the health protocol?
In fact, I hadn't talked about it in the media yet, but had Covid-19 a month ago.
However, I was super vigilant, on my social life, the wearing of the mask, the rules of hygiene… I do not know how I was able to catch it but here, for a week, I was very tired and I still am.
I can train well but I feel the urge to sleep very hard, until 11 am on weekends per night.
But luckily I didn't have any cardiac or respiratory complications.
After that, of course we practice a contact sport and we need people on the mat to be able to train well.
Between your pubalgia and the Covid-19, plus the absence of competitions, you go to Prague for the European Championships in warrior mode…
(Laughs) Yes, I'm going as a warrior.
But at the same time, the last time I did a European medal, I had only done three judo sessions due to a sprained knee, appendicitis and a scooter accident.
So level of sequence, I was already not bad.
It was in 2017. I have already known such a scenario in my career and sometimes, this is where we have the most beautiful surprises.
The mind has to take over, quite simply.
Containment and then re-containment have had a financial impact in your life?
I'm lucky because all my partners have continued to follow me.
Moreover, I take this opportunity to thank them, whether it is the city of Saint-Dizier, Haute-Marne, my club, the training institute for sports physiotherapists… They all continued their support and this allows me to live well and prepare calmly for the Games.
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