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What flavor does this silver medal have?
Kévin Mayer:
It's the flavor of the warrior, of the phoenix rising from the ashes.
It's a sense of accomplishment that frankly I've rarely had.
Frankly, I lived a hell from A to Z. Well no, not from A to Z because I took enormous pleasure in the height and the javelin.
It was fabulous, to take out a jet like that with the fatigue and the legs that I had, with the back that I had, with the calf that I had… I think it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life.
But the rest was just aches and pains and expectations and stress.
Physically, what was going well after all?
Frankly, physically, I didn't have knee pain at the height (smile). From the moment I blocked my back, I didn't do athletics at all for a week. Zero bodybuilding too. Obviously, the body, when it has done nothing for several days, inevitably there is everything that draws in the end. It's normal, it's muscular. Afterwards, I often hear it said that we French people are still injured. But come only once to the decathlete's rest room, you will see that there is none that does not hurt. It doesn't make sense physically to do a decathlon. And today, despite this shitty lumbago, I think that physically this year I put things in their place. I no longer have any limits. And during all this decathlon I didonly thought of Munich (European Championship 2022), Eugene and Paris.
Would it have changed anything if you hadn't had this back pain?
Look at my performances in height and javelin, and it would have been like that everywhere.
Frankly, without wanting to screw it up, I knew I had plenty to be in battle with Warner and that even though he was making 9,000 points, I could go too.
READ: JO: the resurrection of Kevin Mayer, decathlon silver medalist
Do you suddenly feel great frustration?
Not at all. I tend to say it's good to be a favorite, except decathlon isn't that. The decathlon is the guts that we take out on D-Day because there are always plenty of things that do not go as we want. And you have to know how to adapt. Today I am so proud to win this silver medal in these conditions. At almost every test, I wondered if I was going to be able to continue further. It was really impossible for me to finish this decathlon. I still can not believe it. I know it might not be seen from the outside but I'm evolving as an athlete to go for some really really big things. It takes time,but put… the day it will come out.
You who insist a lot on the notion of pleasure, this decathlon is the opposite of that…
Yes, it's true, I usually take enormous pleasure during a decathlon, like in Rio for example.
But there it was only suffering and disappointment at every test.
But it's probably the fact of having been in the background throughout the decathlon that the emotional lift was so strong when I won the money.
In the end, it's more enjoyable than Rio where everything went well, where I had optimized everything.
But today I was facing a wall that I broke with my head all the way.
And frankly, I'm super proud of myself.
READ ALSO: JO: Da Costa, Mayer, sports-co in the final: what to remember from Thursday in Tokyo
Can you come back to this incredible second javelin throw?
After the pole vault which had lasted a super long time with crazy heat, I came back and my staff told me what I had to do with the javelin to succeed, knowing that in the 1.500m, with the legs that I have had, I knew I was going to be lactic after 300 meters, which did not fail. So I knew I was playing for the medal in the javelin and that I had to put ten yards on Lepage and Moloney. First try, I have no more legs, I have nothing left and I still do a good 64 meters. But I know that is not enough at all. And then on this second try, I was much more lucid. Instead of trying to put in a “chick”, I thought about everything I have technically worked on this year. I should do this every time but often we just want oneit is to free oneself and to send everything. And what's huge is that when it lands, I think it's 69 or 70. But when I saw 73 meters, I tell you, I lost my brain. Moments like this are magical.
When did you click to tell yourself that you were only fighting for second place?
After the weight. I knew this was going to be the worst ordeal ever to see my back. My coaches told me that it was not over, that Damian Warner was underperforming in major competitions. But I wasn't counting on it and I knew I was diminished. So from there, I no longer thought about the points but simply to have fun on the tests. And I'm happy to have had my feet on two events.