This has become THE question that has been driving the conversations of the tricolor camp since Tuesday in Budapest: will Kevin Mayer have the means to defend his world title on Friday and Saturday? And this is all the more agitating, as the French team has still not won the slightest medal and the abandonment of its leader, savior of the Blues during the Olympics and previous Worlds, could well put it in a hell of a mess one year from the Paris Games.
Unless there is a last minute change, Kevin Mayer will be at the start on Friday morning in the 100m, the first event. But no one knows if he will complete his 10 labors. He himself does not know.
With Mayer, we are used to roller coasters. But this time you will have to fasten your seatbelt even better, as the jolts and emotions are likely to be significant. We are no longer close to that. In Rio in 2016, it was the ecstasy of a first Olympic silver medal behind the monster of the time, Ashton Eaton. In 2018, we lived the apotheosis, with a world record executed like a metronome and born of the frustration of failed European Championships, a few weeks earlier. Meanwhile, at the London Worlds in 2017, the boy went to seek his first planetary title. In pain, mental this time, since he had grazed the bubble with the pole.
“Even when the result is negative, we only retain the strength of the emotions”
Kevin Mayer averages one decathlon a year, with his dose of adrenaline and guaranteed suspense. “In the summer, we don’t talk about holidays with us, but Kevin’s championship, says Thomas, his brother. Its annual decathlon is a bit like a cousinhood, we wouldn’t miss it for anything in the world, we know that we’re going to experience crazy emotions, whether negative or positive. »
Each time, the entourage unites, with a lot of benevolence. “Even when the result is negative, several years later we only retain the strength of the emotions”, continues Thomas, remembering the distress of his brother when he abandoned the Worlds in Doha, in 2019, on injury, while he was in the lead after 7 events.
Tears have often flowed: from 2012 at the European Championships in Helsinki where Mayer misses the minima for the London Olympics, at the European Championships in Berlin, after the 3 tests bitten at the length. At the Tokyo Olympics where back pain prevented him from winning gold. Hamstring in 2015, knee in 2018, left Achilles tendon and hamstring in 2019, back in 2021, right Achilles tendon in 2022, left Achilles tendon this winter then a hamstring tear in the spring and re left Achilles tendon, 15 days ago… The health report of Mayer, 31, half of whom is in very high-level sport, is a Prévert-style inventory. He who advances with this desire to control everything pours out his share of emotions when his body lets go.
Even if it means giving back the image of a champion who complains a lot. “Kevin is aiming for excellence, so he is very demanding with himself and sometimes gets into complicated states, summarized Alexandre Bonacorsi, the childhood friend who became his coach in 2020, a few days ago. to be on top 365 days a year, and yet he would like to, but he now also knows how to take a step back from the situation and accept not being at the level of his world record every day. »
The approach to competitions, injured or not, is each time an ordeal in itself. “Kevin is then even more attentive to his body and his sensations, he feels things even more than usual and the emotions are increased tenfold continues the coach. It can be frustration, annoyance. The slightest technical error or the slightest pain can make him imagine the worst for the competition. And he is able to say 10 minutes later, okay, it’s not that bad. »
In Budapest, Mayer is still on a tightrope. Ready to fall or, on the contrary, to strike the moon. Each decathlon is a competition, a superhuman ordeal in which he involves his family and the general public. This world decathlon should be no exception to the rule.
