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Florencia Borelli, the Argentine queen of the marathon: how she approaches to be an Olympian in Paris 2024

2023-03-02T09:53:04.032Z


The 30-year-old from Mar del Plata, Milo's mother, is the best national long-distance runner and continues to break records. "I'm a cold runner and I don't feel pressure," she tells Clarín.


Argentine athletics enjoys one of the best moments in its history.

The best, for many.

And one of the main people responsible for this great present is

Florencia Borelli

.

The woman from Mar del Plata, established as one of the best medium and long-distance runners at the national and continental level, lived an extraordinary 2022 and with that momentum she started 2023 with everything.

Lover of her challenges, she started the new season in a different way, because she had her absolute debut in indoor competitions with very good results.

Although she already projects a year of a lot of action in the open air, with the

Pan American Games in Santiago

as the main objective and the Olympic event in

Paris 2024

as the final destination.

"It is inevitable not to think about Paris - 

he acknowledged in a chat with

Clarín

-. I feel a little closer to qualifying than the Tokyo Games, more in the marathon. I would like to qualify and arrive with a very good mark in that test".

Borelli aims with everything to run the 42.195 kilometers in the French event.

For this reason, although he had secured a place in the 10,000 meters for the Pan American Games, for having won that test in the Odesur de

Asunción 2022

, in the Chilean capital he will compete in the toughest and most difficult test of athletics.

Borelli, with his number, in the run-up to the 2022 Seville Marathon, where he set a new Argentine record.

Photo Instagram @flooborelli

"The track always tempts me, but there is that famous phrase that says:

'Everything cannot be done'

", he commented, laughing.

"This year I am going to run on the track until October (

NdR: Although he will say present in the 10 kilometers of Vicente López, on March 12

). In May I have the Grand Prix and the National. From June to August, we are going to Europe to compete outdoors, hoping to be able to qualify for the

World Cup in Budapest

. And then we are going to focus on the marathon for the Pan American Games. I want to lower my mark and get a good time, to get to Paris very well," he warns.

The woman from Mar del Plata owns the best national mark in that distance, with the 2h26m54 that she achieved a little over twelve months ago in

Seville

, at the start of 2022 in which she got tired of celebrating unprecedented achievements.

In April, she became the first South American to run the 3,000 meters in less than 9 minutes, when she clocked 8:59.10 in Mar del Plata.

In May she was crowned in the

Ibero-American Half Marathon of La Nucía

, Spain.

In June, in Manchester, she took bronze in the 5,000 with 15m23s83, a new national record.

At the end of July, she finished second in the 3,000 meters in Memphis and improved her Argentine and South American records with 8:53.89.

And in August she finished seventh in the 21 kilometers of Buenos Aires and was crowned Argentine and South American champion in that distance with a time of 1h09m31, a new national and continental record.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Florence borelli (@flooborelli)

This year he continued on a roll.

At the end of January, she was gold in the 1,500m at the  Valencia International

Meeting

, in the first competition of her indoor career, with 4m17s94 and set a new Argentine record, which was broken days later by

Fedra Luna

Sambrán

(4m12s95).

And in February she set his best time in the 3,000

indoor

in Val-de-Reuil, France, with 8:58.59, bettering the 8:59.61 he had set a week earlier in Lyon. 

"It is always nice to compete and not to mention improving personal brands or Argentine and South American records. Although it is also a double-edged sword, because when you do not achieve it, you are not satisfied. But those are the rules. I am quite demanding with myself

and that pushes me to continue working.

I understand that sometimes you can and sometimes you can't, because the body is not a machine, but I constantly seek to lower my times", he reflected.

-Does it add pressure to be a benchmark in your sport?

-Pressure to be a reference, no, thank God.

I think the only thing that puts pressure on me when it comes to racing is leaving my son for so long, because I feel like I have to make that count.

It's always hard to leave, but

Milo

is already big (

he was born in 2015

), understands everything and practically throws me out of the house when I have to go to compete (laughs).

And that makes everything easier.

I think that in my case, at least, whether the body responds or not during the competition has nothing to do with emotions, because as a runner I am quite cold.

So I never felt pressure in that sense.

Yes, I love that they see me as a reference, although I don't think I'm an example of anything.

But if they see me as an example to motivate themselves to train and lead a healthy life, great.

And I like to be the bridge for the next generations.

Sometimes in South America it is a bit more difficult to compete and reach those levels, but we have a lot of talent.

"I don't feel pressure for being a reference and I like that they see it that way," Borelli said.

-What are the reasons for your explosion in recent seasons?

-Perhaps it was an accumulation of experience.

Sometimes one prepares to run at certain times in a year, she doesn't make it and she needs another season.

Maybe that accumulated a bit for me and I exploded last year.

And in addition to training and nutrition, there is a very big mental work that I have implemented in recent times.

Most of the success comes from training hard, but I have also been putting a lot of emphasis on my head, on my mentality, and that has strengthened me a lot.

-There are not many athletes who can go from running 3 thousand meters to running a marathon in a matter of weeks or months, and achieve very good results.

Why can you do it?

-Perhaps because since I was a girl, my coach (

Leonardo Malgor

) made me compete in all the tests.

I like to run, although there are tests that I like more than others.

Also, I really love challenges.

So I adapt and perform well.

I have no problems.

If we have to run, we will run any distance.

"If we have to run, we will run any distance," Borelli said.

-If you had to choose a distance, would you choose the marathon?

-The 3 thousand and the marathon are my favorites, although they are very different.

The 3 thousand is explosive and since I was a girl I always did well at that distance.

And the marathon, since I ran it in Buenos Aires in 2021 (NdR: He won in what was only his second participation in about 42,195 kilometers), seemed like a terrible physical challenge to me.

I love it.

This year I want to take another leap in quality in that test.

It is what we are looking for.


"Hopefully Argentine athletics can add medals in Santiago"

Florencia Borelli is the great figure of the enormous present that Argentine athletics lives, but she is not the only one.

Last year, in the Iberoamericano in which the woman from Mar del Plata was gold in the half marathon, another ten medals were also added: the gold medal for

Belén Casetta

in 3,000 with obstacles;

the silver medals of

Fedra Luna

(5 thousand),

Daiana Ocampo

and

Antonio Poblete

(half marathon) and

José Zabala

(1,500);

and the bronzes of

Franco Florio

(100),

Elián Larregina

(400, with a national record),

Julián Molina

(5,000 and 3,000 with obstacles) and

Germán Chiaraviglio

(pole vault).

Borelli together with Bárzola, Ocampo and Poblete, the last two also medalists in the 2022 Ibero-American.

And in the

South American Games in Asunción,

 nine golds were harvested (in addition to Borelli's in 10,000; those of Florio in 100, Larregina in 400,

Federico Bruno

in 1,500 and 5,000, Chiaraviglio in pole vault, Luna in 1,500 and 5,000 and Casetta in 3,000 with obstacles), four silver (

Bruno de Genaro

in 400 hurdles,

Florencia Lamboglia

in 100,

Mariana Borelli

in 1,500 and Ocampo in 10,000) and two bronzes (

Nazareno Sasia

in shotgun and

Joaquín Gómez

in hammer), for Argentina finished second in the medal table of that sport, behind Brazil.

"Today in Argentina we have many good long-distance runners, like my sister Mariana, Daiana and Fedra. And we face it. I'm proud of the athletes at the national level. We always go for more and that's good," Borelli analyzed.

"There are also guys like Florio and Larregina who are super talented. And it's great, because in Argentina speed was always more difficult. We were always more long-distance runners than sprinters," he added.

When looking for a reason for this good moment, the woman from Mar del Plata assured: "It is a bit of the accompaniment of

ENARD

, which motivates a lot, because it allows you to do camps and training outside, something that was not possible before. That is obviously a consequence of the achievements, but it's good. And I think that another little is due to the competition that is generated between athletes. We are all very even and that means that you never stop training hard, because the other is nowhere near your marks And so you keep improving. I always say that the more even everyone's level is, the more growth there is".

Borelli and Ocampo, rival and partner.

"The more even everyone's level is, the more growth there is," said the woman from Mar del Plata.

Photo EFE

-How do you see the Argentine national team facing Santiago 2023?

-Very good.

In the Odesur last year it was shown that the team is strong.

Let's hope the same thing happens in Santiago, although we know that the level at the Pan American Games is different.

Argentine athletics is going through one of the best moments in its history.

Hopefully I can reap medals.

Let's all go for that goal 

.


HS

look also

Armand Duplantis, the success of a family project that took him to the roof of the world with a new pole vault world record

The best Argentine athletes will be in the 10K of Vicente López

Source: clarin

All news articles on 2023-03-02

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