Renaud Lavillenie is pawing impatiently. Having undergone surgery in September on a hamstring tendon, the pole vaulter is forced to observe a long period of inactivity which has difficulty combining with his temperament. But at 37, this was a necessary step to avoid jeopardizing his next big goal: the Paris Olympics. While waiting to be able to gradually resume racing, in a month, then to return to his natural habitat – the saltire – at the end of March-beginning of April, the 2012 Olympic champion is taking advantage of his time to recount his unique journey, which he reveals in his book I regret (almost) nothing (Solar editions), published on November 9.
Would you say that the ambition to compete in these last Olympics, at 37 years old, after a lot of problems and this operation, ultimately describes quite well what has always been your driving force for pole vaulting?
Already, I tell myself that these are not necessarily the last (smile). I don’t want to put up a barrier like that, I never put one up from the beginning. What drives me is the pleasure of jumping, the passion for this discipline, if I didn’t have that I would have stopped a few years ago. Age is not a criterion. The Games themselves are a major event, and the fact that it is in Paris means that my head and my body have no questions asked.
From the outside, we think it would be the perfect farewell… but that’s not how you operate?
Pole vaulting is a truly unique discipline. Before being in competition against others, we are in competition with ourselves. Because we have to force ourselves to master the pole that will take us the highest, because our benchmarks are in relation to what we do, not others. If you go to a competition just to win, sometimes you don’t need to do anything, just pass a bar, and conversely if you’re never the best you spend your time losing and you quickly lose sight of it. no more interest. I have always jumped for myself, not to please others or to win. And then I had the chance for everything to come together, to add the victories.
Are you confident about qualifying despite this tight schedule?
If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t do it. The level of performance that must be achieved to qualify (5.82m) is relatively high but in my case not unattainable. I have already done it more than 150 times in my career, including with minor injuries or in difficult conditions. It’s reassuring. And in the meantime, I’m taking the time to put everything in place so I can get the important centimeters when I need to press hard. I am only waiting for that !
Three Olympics, three very different stories: the title in 2012, the controversy in 2016, the injury in 2021… And in 2024, then?
It’s at home, we’re going to feel a craze growing, I imagine it will be monumental. The hardest part for me is qualifying. Then, apart from gold which seems complicated to me with Duplantis, everything is possible. In Tokyo, I couldn’t have been more impaired, barely on one leg, and I still finished 8th. I have this revenge to take, I want to repeat the Games while standing on my own two feet to see what happens.
Does winning an Olympic gold medal make you enter a sort of restricted circle, and are we aware of it?
Yes, because it’s something that speaks to people. There is a real difference between Olympic champion and world champion. The Olympics are magnificent. It’s three weeks, every four years, where everyone only watches that. It marks people. In addition, I have the chance to do athletics, the number 1 sport of the Games, there are only 11 athletes to have been Olympic champions in more than 120 years of history, it’s a rarity. And there are three pole vaulters in the group!
You have always refused to prioritize between your Olympic title and your world record…
Because they are not at all the same approaches. The world record only depends on your intrinsic qualities, whereas to be an Olympic champion, you also depend on others, on a day of competition. We saw Olympic champions in all disciplines who were not at the level we imagined, but in this context, on D-Day, the window opened. I was the best on the most important day of the season, in 2012, and I was the best in the history of my sport at one point. These are two different peaks.
You say in your book that you do not believe in collective dynamics in major competitions… Does the fact that the 2024 Olympics are taking place at home change your analysis?
Absolutely not (smile). When I’m on the trail, I’ll be alone. I’ve been in this situation quite a few times where the athlete didn’t have very good results, you arrive and they tell you that you’re the savior. We don’t ask you the question of dynamics at that moment. And if everyone performs, I never tell myself that it will be easier for me. But it also depends on each person’s level. An athlete between 5th and 10th in the world can push him to get a podium. When you are the favorite, you are prepared to win so there is no need to cling to external elements. This is where we see the difference between the good and the very good. The very good ones will never question what is going on around them.
You say you regret almost nothing. What is this “almost”, just what is happening in Rio?
It’s the safest thing, this departure from the road with my completely inappropriate comparison. On the rest, it also depends on the reader, on how we feel the emotions, the words. The almost in parentheses is there to arouse interest. Everyone in their life regrets something at some point. It’s good to put your finger on it and ask yourself why.
Despite the victories and the records, one of the most anticipated chapters is the one on Rio. Your tears on the podium remain a moment that people remember…
This is the repercussion of the violence of the 24 hours that I experienced. I wanted to be specific about this episode because there was a huge misunderstanding. I got screwed quite a bit for free, by people who didn’t know anything about it. I understand what people can criticize me for, but in my sport, it’s something we’ve never seen or seen again since. There was a drastic change in audience behavior in the space of a jump. Many hadn’t picked up on that. Then, between the final and the podium the next day, I received death threats, I found myself having to go and explain myself on the biggest local channel (Globo), where we were told [avec Julien Galland, son agent] that we are crazy for coming without an escort. These are notable things. At the medal ceremony, I didn’t expect to get slapped again. I tried to contain myself, not to break down, because I didn’t want to give them this pleasure, but it was too hard.
Is your book also a desire to “defend” who you are, as you often repeat, someone who is direct, not civilized or political?
In sport there are all types of athletes, some don’t make a wave, others storm, you can’t blame one or the other for being the way they are. When I was on a stadium, my priority was to jump as high as possible and win. That’s what made me the most happy, whether it was crowded in the stands or there was no one there. But society has evolved, at the start of my career in 2008-2009 it was only the beginning of social networks, now there is nothing more than that. We’re compared, we’ll say “ah he’s super nice, open, while the other one has a knack for it”, except that it’s not that simple. People don’t always realize everything that’s going on around them, this was an opportunity to explain.
You insist a lot on the fact that pole vaulting is your passion, above all else… Doesn’t that seem to be the case for everyone, when people read you implicitly?
It is obvious. In my sport but in all others and even in the professional world. There are very high-ranking people who are there because they are good but overnight they can change, that is neither hot nor cold for them. I was doing pole vaulting before I was famous and had money, and I will always do it afterwards. I have that in me. I don’t understand when we talk about sacrifices in high-level sport. If it is, something is wrong. There are difficult choices to make, periods where we do things we don’t really like, but these are not sacrifices. These are important steps to get back to what you love, that’s all.
You devote a chapter to Mondo Duplantis, with whom you get along very well. Was there never an ounce of jealousy over the little kid who comes along and surpasses you?
He was made for this. From a young age, he has been conditioned to be a champion, and he is a “good” champion. He’s not the guy who came, stuck his carrot in for just an inch and then left. Mondo arrived and sat in my place for the duration. There is no jealousy because the guy is really very strong. And then yes, we have a special relationship, and it’s not given to everyone to jump at the same time as someone who was inspired by you to perform. It’s a chance to compete with him.
There are no regrets, then, in no longer being at the top of the hierarchy?
I had my time. It’s part of the game. I’m still, to this day, one of the three best of all time in my discipline, with Serguei Bubka and Mondo [Duplantis]. It’s quite prestigious (smile).