Written by Trackandmemes, March 28, 2022
In fact, when you started this sport you went from 11.32 to 10.89 in the 100m in one year. It is true that in athletics, you progress very quickly when you start. But you start with a pretty solid time. 10.89, that's not nothing. Did your coach at the time, looking at you, already see the reflection of the champion we see today?
I can't really speak for him, but when I started athletics, I had 10 years of tennis behind me. I had quite a bit of physical stamina from my 15/16 hour workouts per week. When I started running, the emphasis was on technique, which allowed me to progress quickly enough to complete the basics I had already learned.
I would like to zoom in on this competition where you leave with the gold. Before your race, during the warm-up, what was going through your mind? Can you remember it in your mind? Or do you just go blank and do what you've learned in training before you run?
It was an incredible day. Until the end, I wasn't sure I could do it. During the warm-up for the final, I started to get cramps in my calves... This had already happened to me last year: my current outdoor record, 20.72, I did while cramping throughout my race. So I didn't know how to run at full speed, and therefore, during my warm-up for this 2022 Swiss Championship, I thought about it again. With my coach, we massaged and relaxed me, hoping that it would pass. Then I was focused on my race. And it held, so I'm happy.
For this race, I knew I was a favorite, but it's one thing to be a favorite, and another thing to assume the status when you have to take action. I knew that the athletes I had to race against really wanted to win, and that I was the one who was going to be chased. It gave me adrenaline and helped me with my performance.
You mark the Swiss by breaking the 21 seconds bar in indoor. Was this your first time under 21? Can you say that thanks to this performance, and hoping that everything goes well physically, your outdoor season is secured with the lock?
Yes, it was the first time.
The indoor season serves to give perspective on what might happen outdoors. I can afford to dream big this summer. The people before me who have run under 21 seconds indoors are athletes who have made semi-finals at the Olympics, or who have run 20.40 outdoors. I tell myself that I can do it too. I'm going to use the feeling I got indoors to prove that I can have a good season outdoors and not only indoors.
I feel good, both in terms of feel and technique. I will maintain this state for the summer season, and if I don't encounter any injuries, I am sure to reach my goals.
One day in an interview you said that doing the games would be one of your biggest dreams. You said "participating in the games is part of my dream, there is no bigger dream". I think that dream is in the making... But in another interview, you said you entered a competition to win. Otherwise you wouldn't have gone. Why do you run? Is there another truth behind the Olympic goal?
With the years and the experiences, the mentality evolves. Before, I just wanted to participate in the Games, but now I tell myself that I can dream bigger than a participation. Because if that's all it is, I know I won't enjoy it. I would like to make at least the semi-finals in Paris 2024, in individual or in relay. Over time, as an athlete, there is a second career that begins when you realize that most of the limitations you have are your own. When you realize that, a different energy comes out and it opens up avenues that weren't there before. It's one thing to say it, but it's another to feel deeply that there is a way. I'm starting to get to that point where I'm really thinking, why not me? This state of mind comes with encounters, experiences ...
In this excerpt from the famous movie "Coach Carter", in a nutshell, the basketball athlete explains to his coach that it is our light that sets others free. That we are all destined to shine like children, and that by shining, we influence others to do the same. Then he thanks his coach. Do you feel today and through some testimonies that you are a light for those around you?
I am aware that what I do, I don't do it only for me. I do it for me, but also for those who help me every day to do what I love. I realize that my approach, my results and my vision can influence some people. I'm not a super star so it's a limited influence. The message I give can reach people. When I was a kid and I met a local star for example, I was influenced by that. And because of that, I realize how important it is to be aware of your influence.
What is your relationship with your coach? And what would you like to say to him today, in view of all that you have been able to build so far?
We have been working together for two and a half years. Today, we have reached a stage where we know each other very well. We know how each other works. I'm a pretty intense person, who thinks a lot and has a lot of ideas... I needed to have someone who could accept them, and talk to me while being as focused on the performance as I am. We know each other really well and what I like is that we are on the same page every day. He is always there to stimulate me, and he doesn't tell me what I want to hear, but what I need to hear. He is able to put emotions aside, unlike me. I needed a coach like him, stable. And in that respect, I consider him my rock.
And your current success, would you dedicate it to your new country that has just welcomed you? To your parents, who have passed on their sporting success to you so that you can take over? Or your friends, your relatives who surround you?
I would dedicate it to everyone. It starts mainly with my parents. The first influence, the main helper, was my parents. They were elite sportsmen and women and they are the ones who unconsciously and indirectly gave me this desire to do like them. And still today they are present to support me, either psychologically or financially.
My coach, my training group, my physios, all the people I work with on a daily basis are people who inspire me, and who make me love what I do. Because of all of that, I enjoy it every day. I think that if you don't enjoy every day, but only in the moments when it goes well, it will be complicated.
Recently, there have been many things; a change of nationality... I have always been very well received here. I really feel Swiss. Both my parents are Swedish, but I grew up here. I ran for Sweden, because I wasn't Swiss yet, but in 2017 I got the citizenship. That's when the thinking started because I had the choice to choose which country I wanted to run for. Now I run for Switzerland.
In the same way that a baton is passed during a relay, and in the same way that your parents passed on their passion for sport to you, do you see yourself doing the same for your future children if you were to have them?
Of course. I think my goal would be to transmit values, and there is no better school of life than sport. It may sound cliché, but what I am today, I am because of my sport. I want to pass on to them the values of my parents, but especially the values of sport. Like my parents, I'm not going to push them, but in the same way that my parents inspired me, I would like to inspire them in turn. But they will make their own choice.
One word to define the outdoor season that awaits you?
Ambition
*Thanks to my eyes Marjorie for making us discover Felix*
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