“I can’t dream of a better goal”… At 35, Dimitri Bascou leaves for a round

The Paris Olympics can push athletes to all the madness. Take Dimitri Bascou, for example. After his non-qualification for the Tokyo Olympics, the 110m hurdles specialist had decided to move away from the track, without having officially announced the end of his career either. Then he put on his pointe shoes, almost by chance, and noticed that he still had some under his feet. At 35, here is the European champion and bronze medalist at the Rio Olympics in 2016 back in training, with the focus on a last dance in 2024 in front of the French public.

The bet may seem unreasonable, but after hearing the person concerned, we really want to believe it with him. After 15 years at the top level, the Martiniquais knows himself by heart and has set up a structure that suits him. He explained all this to us when we received him in our twitch show“The crusaders you know”, Thursday 12 January.

What was your journey from the disappointment of the Tokyo Olympics to your decision to return to aim for Paris 2024?

Tokyo, for me like most athletes of my generation, was the peak, normally behind the European championships in Paris to end our career in style. Except that there was the Covid [JO reportés d’un an, championnats d’Europe annulés]. Personally, I had a somewhat complicated period after that, I didn’t set foot on a track for eight months. And then one day I was asked to help out at interclubs [en 2022], I realized that it was fine, the legs were turning well, very well even. I remembered that my initial goal was to finish at home, in front of the French public, so I decided to continue pressing for two years to go to the Paris Olympics.

Wasn’t it too hard to get back into it after such a long break?

In the end, I feel like it did me good. We go on so much, the body needs to breathe a little, to regenerate. I needed that I think, because when I came back I found feelings that had left me years ago. And then the Covid had been hard to manage for the athletes, we wondered what tomorrow would bring, if we weren’t training for nothing. Running in empty stadiums, or two in a race, I have experienced it. And it’s depressing. I need something that bangs. The more the goal sends, the more motivation I will have and a force that will come out. And there, the Olympics in Paris, I can’t dream of a better goal.

How will qualifying go?

The minima are 13”27 [son record personnel est de 13”12, établi en 2016]. Unlike other championships, they can be held more than a year in advance. There in this case, from July 1, 2023. It will be necessary to seek these minima this year, but also to confirm next year, at the French championships. It’s the usual meeting, to confirm its form and show that we will be present on D-Day. Minimums are not a guarantee. There are only three places per country.

And the competition is fierce in France, with Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, Sasha Zhoya, Aurel Manga or Wilhem Belocian…

Yes, since Guy Drut, we have a great technical skill in the discipline, which is transmitted from generation to generation. Today, it is undoubtedly the densest discipline in French athletics, for men anyway. But it’s a good thing at the dawn of the Olympics. Me, it has always boosted me, it allows me to find the strength for the sacrifices I make every day, in lifestyle, sleep, etc. Behind it grows, you have to be on the job. Once we’re all behind the line, it’s the sum of everything we’ve done before that will speak.

Do you train with them or alone?

I set up my own training structure. I am also a trainer, and since 2018, I have been doing my physical preparations alone. I was just working with an athlete, for what is called the mirror method. I coach to coach myself, in a way. I had taken this example of two American athletes who trained like that. It allowed me to enrich myself on training, things to improve, to apply, the temperament to have for this system because it is totally different than being trained by a coach. But I was missing something, an outside eye, so this year I decided to create a small group with athletes of my generation, who are themselves coaches, so that we can help each other and pulls up. So I train in my club in Noisy-le-Grand, in this mold that I set up myself, and which got off to a very good start.

Why didn’t you hire a trainer?

I became interested in coaching very young. At 19, I already knew how to make an athletic preparation plan. So I preferred to do with my personal background. I know how to handle, when to really push the training, where to stop. Even at 28 I wouldn’t have made that choice, it was still too early. At 35, I’m ready. It’s a complicated choice to make because you have to be sure of your achievements, know your body by heart. This requires a lot of involvement, so much so that it can only be limited in time. The Paris Olympics is tomorrow, so I know it’s tenable until then.

Financially, do you receive aid from the Federation?

The Fédé had a lot of difficulty managing this period of generational change, many young people are arriving but the old ones are still there and potentially medal winners for Paris 2024. It has chosen a small group of athletes, me for the moment I support my preparation myself. But I think it will change depending on the results. I don’t blame the leaders, especially since they had to do with a lower budget. I am waiting to see what they will do in the coming months to improve the situation.

And at the level of private partners?

No, I left alone. But I have confidence in what I have put in place. I’ve never been 100% serious in my career – that’s my problem (laughs) – there I want to see what I can achieve if I am. For now, I just made a first competition in Reunion in December. I came to have fun, to run in good conditions, and I made the best comeback of my career in 7”77 (indoors). So the sliders are already high enough. I don’t worry about the lack of partners, all that. I know it’s hard to engage with someone who is pretty much at the end of their career. They need to know what I’m capable of before taking the first step.

All hedge specialists say that after a certain age, the body really suffers a lot. Do you feel capable of carrying you to Paris yours, at 35?

I learned, since I train alone, to listen more to my body. It’s true, after a certain age on the hurdles, the joint stress is so strong that it requires a crazy involvement to keep one’s physical integrity. One of the solutions is to replace part of the training volume with visualization. I’ve always put that forward, it helps to reduce the sessions a little. This is valid in all sports, especially those of combat. I work a lot of things in my head, it’s really a tool that allows me to keep energy for competitions. I can no longer do the volume that I did at the start of my career. My goal is to do what we have rarely seen, namely to reach the best level of his career at the end, at 35 years old. I give everything I can give to get there.

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