“The laces in the shoes, so they don’t get caught in the pedals!” Ready? Turn, turn, turn! Sprint! Soooo! » Chief warrant officer Lance Brauman, 53, is not a man to rest on his laurels. A good half of Pure Athletics, its international team of around fifteen sprinters based in Clermont (Florida), is aiming for a ticket to the Paris Olympic Games (July 26-August 11). The most prominent of them, the American Noah Lyles, can claim four titles (100 m, 200 m, 4 × 100 m and 4 × 400 m). Subject to dominating the American selections, at the end of June.
“Good to see you again, coach! Come on guys, we want some! »exclaims, dripping on his bike, the South African Wayde van Niekerk, 400m world record holder and Olympic champion in Rio in 2016, to liven up the cardio training session.
“Coach B” – Lance Brauman’s nickname – is back “very satisfied and optimistic for the future” indoor world championships in Glasgow (Scotland), early March: Noah Lyles confirmed, with a silver medal in the 60m, that his starts were no longer a weak point and, by the same metal with the 4 × relay 400 m, which he embodies “a serious option” in the American Olympic collective.
” It is not finishedtempers the coach, but a guy who runs in 6 s 44 in the final so close [de son compatriote Christian Coleman (6 s 41), recordman du monde de la distance en 6 s 34] can’t be such a bad starter. Over 100 m, Noah will be difficult to beat in the last 40 meters [son point fort]. »
“Athletics is also a spectacle”
In addition to the cap permanently screwed on his head, Lance Brauman also wears that of consultant for the equipment manufacturer Adidas, which he “helps identify talent”. Thus, in 2016, he met Noah Lyles, who had just graduated from high school but had already won the Youth Olympic Games in the 200m, two years earlier. Since then, the rough coach has formed a unique but efficient team with the extroverted 26-year-old reigning world champion in the 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 400 m, according to whom “athletics is also a spectacle”.
“ [Cette approche] suits me perfectly, if that’s what allows him to continue to be enthusiastic and want to run faster”assures the coach. “Noah is extremely talented. But what sets him apart from other athletes of the same level is that he is equally motivated to become even better, therefore always ready to listen and learn”, continues Brauman. He compares him in particular to the American Tyson Gay (three-time world champion in the 100m) or the Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown (three-time Olympic champion in the 200m) whom he trained – even when he was in prison, in 2007 , after a conviction for forgery.
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