The helicopter is still flying over the surrounding area. But still no Marc-Antoine Olivier. Several seconds. Then a minute, almost two. Finally, here is the name of the French swimmer on the giant screen of the Odaiba nautical base: in sixth place in the 10 km in open water. Far from the podium that the silver medalist of 2016, in Rio, coveted again. Far from the German Florian Wellbrock, new Olympic champion in Tokyo after 1 hour, 48 minutes and 33 seconds of effort.
“It’s very hard to take, really very hard”, repeated Olivier, out of the water 1 minute and 49 seconds behind the first. “Actually, I don’t understand. I worked like crazy for five years. I had a much better level than in Rio. ” Sigh : “I thought at least I had a lot of my place on the podium, maybe going for the gold. ”
Beginning of explanation, perhaps: the competition has ” significantly increased “, depending on the competitor. In particular that of Florian Wellbrock, accompanied on the podium by Hungarian Kristof Rasovszky and Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri. “Florian was on another planet”, Rasovszky admitted of the new gold medalist.
“I crack at the beginning of the 5e tower “
In 2019, Wellbrock had already taken first place at the last world championships to date, those of Gwangju (South Korea). Olivier, bronze. “What can I tell you? Otherwise that I am overwhelmed for him above all, for the staff, for the federation, for the French Olympic team ”, lists the director of the French team in open water, Stéphane Lecat, without headgear or hair under a blazing sun.
In fact, the morning concludes a sad Olympic fortnight for the French Swimming Federation. His worst record since the 2000 Sydney Games. No medal in open water and only one, in silver, in the pools. That of a ghost, Florent Manaudou, the 1er August, in the 50m freestyle, his third medal in a row over the distance, after 2012 and 2016.
“Marco did the right thing, he invested himself, but I think he exploded”, Lecat advance, before having had the opportunity to discuss with the person concerned. Without too much explanation: “I don’t quite understand why, since he stayed on the same pace. “
Olivier specifies. “I crack at the beginning of the 5e tower. “ There were still two left for the swimmer. “The German was very, very strong, he set his pace throughout the race. It was pretty sure he was going to put on a beat like that, but I didn’t think he was going to put it that long. Muscularly, I couldn’t take it anymore. Physically, I didn’t have the cash register. “
“Top-level sport is ruthless”
The explanation does not necessarily lie in the sun beating down on Tokyo Bay and its futuristic buildings. “I had trained all year long to do big heats in hot water without refueling too much, I was prepared for. It was also one of the reasons why I didn’t go up to altitude and stayed in Montpellier. “
This morning, the Northerner explained that he had only taken “Four refreshments”, out of six possible. “I blew one up on the first lap to catch Wellbrock because I couldn’t swim. “ Strategy was not enough.
Among the 26 participants, the other French did not go so far. David Aubry retired before the end of the race. “Top-level sport is ruthless”, recognizes Lecat, believing that the swimmer, recovered from a shoulder injury, was not “Not prepared” as it should have been. “At one point, we can’t do things for people, sometimes I think I’m more motivated than some…”
Marc-Antoine Olivier will be 28 when Paris will host the 2024 Games. “I have to find new solutions to get on the podium again. ” The same, in reality, for the whole of French swimming. In ponds as in open water.