A strength-focused bodybuilding session and an endurance-based swimming session. On this Monday morning at the end of winter, less than five months before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Raphaël triathlete Léo Bergère is leaving nothing to chance. Not yet qualified for the Olympics, the 27-year-old 2022 world and European champion hopes to snatch one of the three French places also coveted by his compatriots Dorian Coninx, Pierre Le Corre and Vincent Luis. Determined, thoughtful and optimistic, the adopted Varois – born in Isère – spoke about his preparation and his ambitions at the Alain-Chateigner Nautical Stadium in Saint-Raphaël. In serene mode, at the edge of the pool.
Preparation, qualification and objectives for the Olympics
In this Olympic year, how is your preparation going?
The preparation is progressing well. We were supposed to start the season at the beginning of March, but the event was canceled (1). There are now only two stages of the world circuit remaining to qualify for the Olympic Games.
What are your chances of being there?
I really believe in my chances of participating in the Paris Olympics. Despite everything, I am not yet qualified. I must be in the three best French people (2) by achieving interesting performances and showing that I am capable of winning medals.
If you win your ticket, do you have specific objectives for both individual and mixed relay?
Individually, I can claim a podium. If an opportunity presents itself in this direction, I will seize it. In relays, there is a high density of triathletes in the French team. Both among women and among men, we have the means to go after winning. You can’t help but believe it.
With your Italian coach Fabio Rastelli, are you building the season and your choice of competitions to perform in Paris?
You would have thought that we were going to focus this season on Olympic qualification. But as we believe in my chances of participation, we opted for preparation based on the Olympic events.
Games craze, Paris sites and Test-Event
Before Tokyo, you told us that the Olympics were not “an ultimate dream”. Did you change your mind before Paris?
The Games have become my ultimate dream now, even if it was also a little before. On the other hand, I have not been immersed in the culture of the Olympics since I was very young, as we see children who admire these athletes. I was less focused on competition. My enthusiasm for the Games has grown over the years.
How did you experience your fifth place at the Test Event last summer?
To be honest, the race was quite successful with today’s scenario. Especially since I had just changed coaches a few weeks before and I had had some small personal problems at that time. We learned some great lessons for the Games about the strategy of our opponents and what can happen if I am not offensive enough during the race.
Did you have good impressions and sensations on this Olympic route?
The route does not present any unusual difficulties, apart from the cobblestones of the Champs-Élysées which shake quite a bit. Afterwards, we find ourselves in the heart of Paris with a setting worthy of a dream. We look to the right, there is the Arc de Triomphe. We turn our heads to the left, we see the Invalides… It’s just crazy.
But this crazy journey also turns out to be criticized: the Brazilian Ana Marcela Cunha, reigning Olympic champion in open water swimming, is calling for a “plan B” in the event of poor water quality in the Seine…
Plan B is too late to think about it. If there hasn’t been one at the competition venue until now, there won’t be one at the Games. The only possible solution remains temporal by postponing the test. You can swim in the Seine when the weather is nice and there hasn’t been any heavy rainfall, as was the case last summer. Frankly, we have swum in conditions much worse than these and open water swimmers also with much more polluted waters like in Rio or even Tokyo. We are used to the problems of these large sites. Our international federation has been taking measures for several years to protect our health with water controls and strict decisions based on the results.
The Var and its surroundings
What does your living environment in Saint-Raphaël (nature, sea, Creps, swimming pool, etc.) contribute to your performance?
A royal life balance. The playing field is fabulous: I leave home on foot for each training session, I am in the Estérel in two minutes… Being outside between 8 p.m. and 30 p.m. per week, we appreciate the good weather conditions. Without forgetting the great swimming pool, the Creps de Boulouris with its redone track and the presence of my entourage.
What impact do your coach and your partner Angelica Olmo, Italian pro triathlete, have on you?
We form a very united core, with an almost family atmosphere. My girlfriend is a pillar, she has great knowledge of the high level. […] It breaks my heart that she can’t train in group (3), but by competing my strength is increased tenfold.
1. The first stage of the World Triathlon Championship Series could not be held due to poor weather conditions in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates).
2. Coninx and Le Corre are prequalified, but still need to achieve a top 6 during the WTCS. The list of those selected will be communicated no later than June 5 by the FFTRI.
3. Suffering from a severe form of Lyme disease, she had to put her career on hold for the moment.
