2023-08-04 08:32:36
TF1 broadcasts the first part of the final of Ninja Warrior this Friday, August 4 at 9:10 p.m. At 33, Jean Tezenas du Montcel is a finalist for the 8th time, after a victory in season 4, and ensures that this is his last participation. The opportunity to draw a portrait of this outstanding sportsman.« Ninja Warrior taught me how to manage my stress and gave me self-confidence,” he sums up.
Above all, do not tell him that he is a legend of Ninja Warrior. It bothers him. Jean Tezenas du Montcel even refrains from pronouncing the word. “The show’s reporter wanted me to say it and never succeeded. I don’t like this term”, he justifies in his calm and calm voice. He also enjoys the “hyperdithyrambic” presentation that the show makes of him at each of his participations. “I learned to take a lot of distance with everything on TV and what people say about me, it makes me laugh and I watch it from afar”. However, this climbing enthusiast is really not a candidate like the others. Emblematic figure of the show TF1, he has eight finals for eight participations, and a victory in season 4, the first of the French edition. An unequaled track record to date which commands respect from the other candidates. “Kids who are 18 today have been following the show since they were 10 or 11 years old. When they see Jean in real life, they meet the idol of their childhood. Many will see it as one will see a wise old man to ask for some advice “, underlines Christopher Beaugrandwhich copresents Ninja Warrior.
For Jean Tezenas du Montcel, the love of sport dates back to childhood. His parents put him in the climbing at the age of 3-4 years. Thereafter, he follows initiations to fencing, judo, practices gymnastics, trains a little in Parkour, but it is definitely climbing that prevails over other physical activities. “It’s the ultimate sport. The movements are beautiful, we have nice feelings. Everything speaks to me in this discipline,” he summarizes. Born in Troyes, Jean Tezenas de Montcel is the youngest of five siblings (he has an older brother, two younger ones and a sister). “Everyone climbs a bit in the family,” he admits. At home, the practice of sport intensifies in adolescence. “When I was in high school, I didn’t have a lot of friends, I wasn’t into stylish people, so I took refuge in sports a bit. After that it becomes an addiction. Subsequently, even having friends, I continued, it became a way of life, ”he observes. A graduate of two engineering schools and then of a business school, Jean Tezenas du Montcel was on an internship in Shanghai when he discovered a message on a WhatsApp group of climbers informing him that Ninja Warrior in China is looking for candidates. “I participated and I qualified for the final but I couldn’t go beyond because I returned to France,” he says.
A double foot fracture
When TF1 announces the arrival of this obstacle course on its antenna, his friends encourage him to try the adventure again. “I went to Paris for a physical test with a double fracture in my foot. As it was a bit about the arms, a bit about the legs, I ran on my heels when necessary, he recalls. They must have thought I was funny, saw that I didn’t ask myself too many questions, and they took me”. Christophe Beaugrand remembers perfectly his first participation in 2016. Denis Brogniart and myself, we were amazed: the agility, the speed and the fluidity. With Jean, one has the impression that no gesture is superfluous, no energy is used for nothing, he analyzes. He’s a pretty amazing character. He is very withdrawn, very focused, he is not a very extravagant person. From his first pass, the athlete gets into the habit of putting on his headphones before each run to better isolate himself. He’s been asked for the titles of his playlist so often that he even posted it on Instagram. We find there IAMthe American rapper Macklemore where the French hip-hop group 1995. “Recently I added Goodbye of Russian. It’s great for concentrating,” he says.
Jean Tezenas du Montcel took four seasons to defeat the Heroes’ Tower in the final (a 23-meter-high rope to climb in less than 40 seconds) and became the first winner of the French edition. Is it because he defines himself as “stubborn” that he tried his luck until victory? “No, winning was never my goal, I didn’t believe it, it seemed completely impossible to me. In fact, I was going back just for fun and because it’s a competition and I like it,” he admits. Since then, the contestant has participated in every season and has consistently reached the final. ” Ninja Warrior taught me how to manage my stress and gave me self-confidence,” he says. On the other hand, he does not consider that the show has changed his life: “It happens that people recognize me from time to time in the street but I continue my everyday work. On the other hand, I met some very interesting friends”.
Eighth and final season
Today, Jean Tezenas du Montcel lives near Sallanches, in the commune of Passy, in Haute-Savoie, in the Mont-Blanc valley. “I work for Decathlon as an engineer and that’s where this job was. Then I also wanted to be near the mountain. That way, I am where I like to be,” he rejoices. It was besides near Sallanches that he met Clément Gravier, winner of season 6 and second winner in program history. “I met him very young in a climbing gym. He was thoroughly. I pushed him to do Ninja Warrior. Clearly, he is coming to take over, ”he judges. Because, even if he will still appear in Ninja Warrior, clash of nations (a show already boxed where the five best French candidates face their American, English, German, Japanese counterparts…), Jean Tezenas du Montcel warned the production: this 8th season is the last. “Eight years is a quarter of my life. It’s time to slow down a bit and take care of my family, my house. Then I’m going to be a dad in a few months, so I said I was stopping before, but it’s timely, ”he confides.
And after ? “I will continue my job. I’m open if I’m offered to do something on TV, that it’s fun and that interests me, why not, but I’m not going to run after it”, he says before concluding: “The most likely is that in a year or two people will forget who I was, I won’t hear from Ninja Warrior and I can tell it later to my children”.
1691142999
#victory #finals.. #Jean #Tezenas #Montcel #quiet #force #Ninja #Warrior