Written by Trackandmemes, May 7, 2021
I am currently a long jump and triple jump coach for the Swiss national team. I started athletics in 1996. At that time I was doing soccer and then the classic pattern; I got injured and my brother suggested I do another sport. I hesitated between handball and athletics and then I chose athletics. Now I coach. At one point I said to myself, you're still 33 years old, so I put my sneakers away and put on my coaching hat.
Avant athlète, et maintenant coach. C’était une évidence pour toi d’acquérir cette nouvelle casquette ?
For others yes, but not especially for me. The revelation came from an external point of view. A dear friend, Pierre Arnould, had offered me to coach young people and I accepted. My former coach looked at me and always told me that I would become a good coach because I had a good pedagogy. It's cool to see that in the end, what my entourage saw in me actually came true. Today I love what I do too much. One thing led to another and I reached the level of national coach and I thank my athletes for giving me the opportunity to coach them, but also my ex-wife who had to put up with me all this time.
Le coronavirus a entrainé la suppression des compétitions. Les entrainements d’hiver se sont annoncés difficiles, voire impossible pour certains. Comment as-tu géré ça en tant que coach?
Communication. And that's as true in this sport as it is in all areas of life. We have been able to communicate between coaches, to find solutions so that our athletes continue to progress. Without that, it's hard to find the balance between the athlete and the environment.
We also know that athletics is a very mental sport. With the Corona, did you set up a technique to keep your athletes from giving up? Or was your usual way of working sufficient? I am thinking in particular of my coach who put me back on 100m/200m instead of 400m from January, in order to preserve my mental health as I had been training alone since September.
I haven't changed anything. In fact, I often make feedbacks with my athletes, which allows me to know how they feel. The athletes naturally confide in me, so again, communication is the key. But it is clear that the mental follow-up of the athletes is very important. In Switzerland, there were two waves of confinement so the system was a little different. The first wave had a bigger impact because the sites were closed. Since last June, training is back to normal with some subtleties. But honestly my athletes have been fine with it. They continue to train and see their own evolution, which motivates them. What is more complicated is the fact that some can compete while others cannot... So we have to manage that. And by the way, this season, competitions were not even in the center of our conversations during the training sessions. To say how much fun we were having in training.
D’ailleurs, il est vrai que le rôle de coach est très influant dans la vie d’un athlète. Un athlète discipliné reflète son coach en réalité. Question un peu tabou… Est-ce que selon toi, lorsqu’on athlète est confirmé dopé, se focaliser sur la décision de l’athlète est suffisant, ou en réalité devrions-nous remonter à la source ? C’est à dire… le coach ?
The athlete will always be primarily responsible, since he or she is the one who makes the decision to dop. Now it is true that the fault does not lie one hundred percent with him if he was influenced, but the athlete remains the main culprit. I have a friend who told me the other day that one of his athletes tested positive for doping. He told me so naturally, with a certain distance because, as a coach, we are not entirely responsible for the decisions our athletes make. It's like a child. He's going to do something stupid that you can't always see or control, despite the fact that you're his parent. Or in this case, his coach.
Tu m’as dit que tu allais partir en stage. Comment cela s’est-il passé ?
We are still in training in Turkey. In December, we planned everything, organized everything so that it remained only to have the authorization to leave and as soon as we obtained it, we packed our bags. Here in Turkey everything is going very well. I am surrounded by medal-winning athletes, athletes with a great track record. There is the Dutch relay, the Borlees, Patricia Mamona, Nafissatou Thiam, Mutaz Barshim... In short, a lot of heavyweight athletes!
Quelles sont tes objectifs au niveau performance pour tes athlètes, cette saison outdoor?
I have an athlete who is developing well and we are aiming high. We are aiming for the top 8 in the world in high jump for the Olympic Games, if not better... Otherwise, in general, with my athletes we focus on the national championships. The meetings will be enough to validate their already felt progress. I can't wait for the summer, finally!
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