The blue slope of the Charles Galletti sports complex, in Lucciana, in Haute-Corse, is waiting for him.
It is there, not very far from Bastia -Poretta airport, that Morhad Amdouni is preparing to end several months of inactivity.
This Saturday, at 7 p.m., the athlete from Val d'Europe (Seine-et-Marne), born on the Isle of Beauty, will try to beat the French hourly record (20.601 km) held by Bertrand Itsweire since… March 31, 1990. The world record set by the Briton Mo Farah on September 4 (21.330 km) seems untouchable It is in any case a way for Amdouni, suspected a year ago of purchases of doping products, to rebuild a champion's image.
This attempt was carefully considered during confinement by the 32-year-old Corsican.
“Because of the Covid, we are living an exceptional year and I needed something a little special and atypical to match my abilities,” he explains modestly.
This record was tried a lot before
(Editor's note: Jean Bouin in 1913 and Alain Mimoun in 1956 beat it
) and I had heard about it for a long time.
"
Amdouni also wanted this attempt to be a communion.
Mehdi Baala, former cyclist Florian Rousseau (director of high performance in French athletics) will be present, as well as Bertrand Itsweire.
"We wanted me not to be free"
To prepare for this challenge off the beaten track, the person concerned first trained in the Paris region before joining his family on Tuesday in Porto-Vecchio (Corse-du-Sud), where he has already spent two weeks of vacation this summer: “I enjoy the family, my son Soan, the sea and the beach.
I ran there this summer barefoot at night when it was cooler.
In the morning, I swam at 6.30am with some triathlete friends.
Attempting this record in Corsica has a symbolic value, it is my way of honoring the support of the people of my island.
This challenge also has a mental and spiritual aspect, lighter than a championship because without rivalry, ideal to feed my personal well-being.
I don't just do it for myself, but for everyone.
Sport is also a struggle for life, a struggle.
"
Amdouni obviously thinks of the investigation of the German television channel ARD, which had suspected the athlete of having bought doping products two years earlier.
“The confinement allowed me to put things into perspective, loose the European champion of the 10,000 m.
We realize that there is nothing better than the essentials, family, health.
Their relentlessness (
in reference to ARD
) was worth nothing compared to what I have.
The fight against doping has done its job (
Editor's note: it has been tested 16 times since last December
).
Today, I take things as they come.
It is not just the athlete who speaks, it is also the man who lives in community.
They wanted me not to be free.
Finally, I am.
"