He is the Blue who saves honor and country.
The only Frenchman to have won a medal at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene on Sunday, Kevin Mayer is now a double decathlon world champion.
After his coronation, the tricolor athlete spoke about his performance.
He also talked about his title, the France team and education through sport.
You predicted twists after the package of reigning Olympic champion Damian Warner.
You weren't mistaken...
KEVIN MAYER.
I said it, but I didn't really believe it.
I was confident without being.
It was hell from an expectation and pressure point of view.
I was in a pit.
Winning is always amazing.
It is an enormous pride to succeed in these conditions.
It's real teamwork.
My surroundings are incredible.
The harder it is, the more incredible the emotional lift to glory.
Today I am world champion.
I am so happy to bring as much visibility as possible to athletics and decathlon because this sport deserves it.
I will try to carry it at arm's length to improve at my height what I can do.
There are a lot of educational points that can be taken from this sport.
What does this second title of world champion represent?
I don't care about overtaking.
I see each competition as a condition of my happiness.
I love training and I love expressing myself in the league.
I give myself the means every year to relive this incredible happiness.
When I do medals, the month after I'm on cloud nine.
I am living a waking dream.
I can assure you that I enjoy it every day.
I am aware of the luck and the entourage that I have.
I know I'm 30 years old and it won't last forever even though I hope to have a good longevity.
The emotion was very strong on the podium.
What went through your head at that time?
It has been a really, really complicated year.
To be present today, frankly, was unexpected.
When you're up against the wall so much, in two months you do everything you need to do, despite that you're not confident, and during the competition you get there... The upward slope of emotions that I just got in my head… I'm first.
It's not like last year, it was an Olympic silver medal, I had saved the furniture.
But here, I am world champion.
For the second time.
I've always admired legends in France, Teddy Riner, Zinédine Zidane, Martin Fourcade… I don't put myself on an equal footing with them at all, but I would like to be a legend one day.
It goes through there.
🥇🇬🇧 Decathlon world champion, Kevin Mayer was very moved on the final podium.
This is the first time that the Marseillaise has been heard in these Eugene Worlds!
pic.twitter.com/6gHsVdbdp7
— francetvsport (@francetvsport) July 25, 2022
What is your assessment of the France team on the World Championships?
The expectations that we had vis-à-vis the tricolor athletes and their level have been fulfilled.
I am very proud of my France team.
They gave their all.
Whatever the results, there is the way.
I have media coverage with this medal and would like to speak up.
What do you have to say ?
In France, we have a moderate sportsmanship.
When we are young, we are not given the means to say to ourselves “I can shine through sport”.
If we want to be better in 20 years, we have to change the education system.
It's not when you play high-level sport that you create medals, it depends on the number of people and young people who are passionate about sport.
The more there are, the more likely it is to have exploits.
There will be exploits at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, because it will be in France, but it will remain exploits.
You can't go looking for something that doesn't exist.