In a video announcement, the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc suddenly changed in size for its 2022 edition. It was February 23, and we only knew that the title holder and record holder of the event (four victories) François D’Haene would not be in the game on August 26 in Chamonix (Haute-Savoie). And then a YouTube post simply titled “The Return of the King” changed everything that day. This king is obviously the Catalan athlete Kilian Jornet, whose participation was however shrouded in mystery on Wednesday evening.
The Catalan said on Instagram having recently tested positive for Covid and, even asymptomatic, conditions his presence on the decision of his doctor. At 34, Jornet has reigned over many different formats for fifteen years, from the Pierre Menta (10,000 m of elevation gain in ski mountaineering) to the vertical kilometer, via Sierre Zinal (31 km and 2,200 m of D + ) and therefore the most prestigious ultras on the planet (5 Hardrock 100, 3 UTMB, 2 Diagonale des Fous and 1 Western States).
Victorious in a summit clash last month in Colorado against François D’Haene on the Hardrock 100, Kilian Jornet is going all out this season to promote the launch of his own NNormal brand. “It’s not every day that we have the chance to run with the greatest athlete of all time”, sums up Mathieu Blanchard, third in the previous UTMB (171 km, 10,000 m D +). To what extent could the presence of the Spanish “ultra-terrestrial” transcend an event bringing together 10,000 participants each year and more than 100,000 spectators throughout the week?
“I take this opportunity to be much calmer when he is there”
“When he is present on a race, everyone is a bit there above all for him, indicates Thibaut Baronian, his former partner at Salomon, who will start the CCC (100 km) on Friday morning. We feel that he is perceived as the icon of trail running in the eyes of all. This undeniable “Kilianmania” inevitably has repercussions on the interest shown in this UTMB. “He brings a little more media coverage to an event that does not lack it,” said Julien Chorier, who worked with him from 2011 to 2013 at Salomon. Kilian’s notoriety goes beyond the world of trail running and even sports. »
Given the rather discreet personality of most trail runners, this extreme popularity of “Kiki” is not envied by its adversaries, quite the contrary. “Since he is the superstar of the trail, all eyes are on him, especially since he lives in Norway and the general public therefore sees him less, reports Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz, dolphin of François D’Haene on the UTMB 2021 and still in contention on Friday. I like that because I take the opportunity to be much quieter when he is there. And if the person concerned adapts with disconcerting ease to all possible and imaginable trail running races, he is much less comfortable in contact with his admirers.
“He is not someone who cultivates the star system”
“This fan passion can be trying and unpleasant for Kilian, especially when you see all these people clinging to him and disturbing him when he is in his bubble, explains the co-founder of the UTMB Catherine Poletti. We have seen that around him, there could be the same excesses as on the Tour de France, since spectators want to run alongside trail runners on climbs. It is up to us in the organization to pay attention to this. »
Former world trail running champion and record holder for victories on the Grand Trail des Templiers, Thomas Lorblanchet saw Kilian Jornet land in Team Salomon, before his first success at the UTMB at the age of 20 (in 2008).
“Kilian is not someone who cultivates the star system. He’s not a fan of crowds and that’s the main reason he left Les Houches [station de la vallée de Chamonix] to move to Norway in 2016.”
Julien Chorier completes: “Fans sometimes even waited for him downstairs at his home in Les Houches, he really couldn’t have the peace of mind he needed”. The tranquility shared with his two children, his companion, the Swedish trail runner Emelie Forsberg, in her district of Romsdal, 5 hours by road from Oslo, therefore obviously contrasts with what awaits her on each return to the UTMB.
“If he is seen in the center of Chamonix, it quickly becomes a mess”
“In 2018, just before the race, I found myself protecting him a bit by accompanying him to the start line, because I could see that everyone wanted their picture with him,” recalls Thibaut Baronian. . “Kilian remains Kilian, smiles Ludovic Pommeret, winner of the UTMB in 2016. People and even the media will come especially because he is there. It’s a bit heavy for him because if he is seen in the center of Chamonix, it’s quickly a mess. »
Team Salomon manager Jean-Michel Faure-Vincent was particularly aware of this during the famous “race of the century” in 2017 with Jornet, D’Haene, Walmsley and Thévenard together: “It had stirred up such a crazy world that all roads were blocked. It was hell: we had to call the gendarmerie to take the athletes to the podium, and I had to park in the middle of the road to arrive on time for François D’Haene’s supplies”. To block traffic throughout the Mont-Blanc valley, here is yet another line to add to the monstrous record of Kilian Jornet. If a damn virus doesn’t come to spoil the party yet.