The afterlife of the high-level athlete

Politique Internationale — What are your earliest memories of the Olympic Games? Do they predate the start of your career?

Alain Bernard — They go back much earlier. I was nine years old when I followed the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. I remember perfectly, it was the year when Marie-Jo Pérec (1) stood out. I was even able to see the Olympic flame, since it travelled close to Aubagne (Bouches-du-Rhône) where I was living. 1992 was a milestone in the history of the Olympics, because that was when it was decided to no longer hold the Summer and Winter Olympics in the same year. My memories of 1996 are also very vivid, with Jean Galfione’s victory in the pole vault competition. For swimming itself, it is again 1992 that comes to mind with the bronze medal obtained by Franck Esposito (2). Finally, the Olympics leave a mark upon all the great champions who take part in them! In 1996 again, how can one forget Michael Johnson, who achieved a fabulous double with the 200 and 400 metres?

P. I. — Is taking part in the Olympics an absolute must for an athlete?

A.B.— For many sports, like swimming, judo, handball or athletics,it is quite simply the Holy Grail,the equivalent of the World Cup for football. These are disciplines – along with fencing, wrestling, shooting ... – for which the Olympic Games are the highlight, once every four years. The situation is different for football or tennis, for example, where there are more competitions. Before 2004 and the emergence of Laure Manaudou, not many people, outside a small circle of specialists, were interested in swimming between two Olympics. Our sport is such that it takes headliners to generate interest on an ongoing basis. During the 2000s, the number of journalists accredited for the French championships kept growing until 2016.

P. I. — What is so special about the atmosphere of the Olympics?

A. B. — It’s a unique opportunity to meet athletes from all over the world, from a wide range of disciplines. Once you are there, you understand much better the extent to which each sport develops a particular morphology: in 2008 in Beijing, I remember a warm-up session in the middle of the Olympic village. I was surrounded on one side by a 2.05 metre weightlifter who had to lift 200 kilos in the clean and jerk, and on the other by gymnasts of 1.50 metres or less who were doing stretches. For a moment, I might have believed myself in an episode of Star Wars, where each character has their own powers! The Olympic atmosphere is also synonymous with perfectly organized competitions, where everything is straightforward and protocol followed to the letter. This too is very much appreciated.

P. I. — In 2008 in Beijing, you finished in first place in the 100-metre freestyle. Do you still think about this achievement?

A. B. — I think I will think about it all my life. Of the competition itself I retain the most closely etched details. On the other hand, the outlines of what happened post-race, on the podium and with regard to requests from the media, have become blurred. The euphoria of the moment is such that to a certain extent we lose control of events! You could stay that I just have fragments of the hours after the race. It’s normal to see stars: when you’re an Olympic champion, it’s forever! I use this medal today to talk to young people, to tell them just how much it is worth the effort to excel. This applies as much to sport as to numerous other fields, notably inside companies, which are avid for this sort of mentality.

P. I. — After Beijing 2008 came London 2012 and, for you, results that were more disappointing …

A. B. — When you win, you get people used to success. So much the better, but over time an athlete’s potential erodes. It’s not just a question of age: a certain wear and tear gradually creeps up on you, both physically and psychologically. I calculated one day that over a career of fifteen years – from the youth categories to international events – I must have swum nearly 50,000 kilometres. With two training sessions a day, plus competitions on weekends, the distances climb quickly. Not to mention the work you do outside the pool, namely weekly bodybuilding sessions. Swimming is an extremely time-consuming discipline.

P. I. — Has Olympic gold changed your life?

A. B. — Without the shadow of a doubt. I was able to gain a prominence I never expected to acquire. It’s a prominence I continue to appreciate today. From time to time it can be a little burdensome, but the advantages are infinitely greater than the disadvantages. Thanks to practising sport at that level, I have been able to travel and meet people in ways that, once again, would have been impossible for me to imagine.

P. I. — When you retired from the pools, did you have the feeling that it would be difficult to begin a second life?

A. B. — I cannot say that I was overcome by vertigo. First, I was not an Olympic champion from the start of my career, like those who cover themselves with laurels from their early twenties. In 2008 in Beijing, I was already 25 years old. That gives you some perspective. On top of that, I didn’t wait for my last lengths to think about what would come next. My current activities as a sports consultant, coaching at the Cercle des Nageurs d’Antibes, the Antibes swimming club, (Alpes-Maritimes), running swimming courses during the summer and of course, being an ambassador for the EDF team, all had time to ripen during my career. The only thing that came along a little later was this role of deputy mayor of Antibes in charge of youth.

P. I. — When did you join the EDF team?

A. B. — I remember it really well. It was in 2007, during a meeting in Saint-Raphaël (Var). I had already heard of the EDF team – swimmers like Solenne Figuès and Hugues Duboscq were members but I didn’t know much more than that. At the end of that first meeting, I immediately appreciated the opportunity that was being offered to me. We high-level swimmers are professional athletes in the sense that we train tirelessly. But we do not have the remuneration that is the corollary of professional sport: to live, each swimmer is dependent upon his own performance and the contracts he manages to obtain. In short, it’s not an easy task. Being a member of the EDF team is a fantastic way to train with peace of mind. The approach is marked out: in exchange for a certain number of availability days – for activities carried out in conjunction with the company

the athlete receives an annual fee via an image agreement, the partnership being reviewed every two years.

P. I. — Although your career as a high-level athlete is over, that does not prevent you from remaining a member of the team …

A. B. — But my role has changed. I left the category of Olympic or Paralympic athletes in order to join that of ‘ambassadors’. My availability days are always needed, but for a different purpose: when I was active, it was mostly a matter of promoting the EDF brand, via advertising campaigns, for example. Nowadays, my role as ambassador revolves more around interventions with the company’s employees: speaking to them notably about team spirit, about the achievement of goals or resistance to pressure. It is a proactive form of communication in which several registers are mixed.

P. I. — Is it the role of big companies to support athletes in this way?

A. B. — The EDF team has the Olympic and Paralympic Games in its sights. Two events where participants must deploy the values of effort, commitment, rigor and more, values widely shared by a company like EDF. Olympic and Paralympic athletes are aware that they represent France in the eyes of the whole world. EDF perfectly embodies this excellence in international terms. These two worlds, sport on the one hand, energy on the other, follow the same trajectory in many respects.

P. I. — Is this partnership a source of pride on a personal level?

A. B. — Of course. Being able to associate your name with such a prestigious company is a source of great satisfaction. And one as solid as that, too. A small example in respect to that: the first lockdown had hardly begun when EDF brought us together, the whole team, by videoconference. The company wanted to tell us that this crisis changed nothing with regard to its commitments to each of us. No one doubted the strength of the ties, but it’s also when the surrounding world is being rocked that you can experience this mutual trust. Since then, the team has grown further with the arrival of Romain Cannone (3) among others. We are now a group of about thirty athletes or former athletes covering a wide range of disciplines, including the double Olympic judo champion Clarisse Agbégnénou, the Paralympic long jump champion Arnaud Assoumani and the modern pentathlon double world champion, Valentin Belaud. Originally, the EDF team was anchored mainly in water sports like swimming and canoeing, with an obvious link to hydroelectricity. Today, the scope has expanded considerably.

P. I. — Are you already thinking about Paris 2024?

A. B. — How can we not? The outlook is pretty fantastic. It is all the more stimulating because everything is new, since Paris has not hosted the Games for a century. All of us, direct actors, privileged observers, committed spectators, will have to deal with a deluge of requests. The event will have to be managed well.

P. I. — Is competing in the Games at home an advantage or a disadvantage for French athletes?

A. B. — Both options are conceivable. To start with the most positive one: the Olympic Games in Paris offers tremendous visibility to our athletes. It’s a way for them to tell their story, which is a real story, given the intensity of the journey that leads to an Olympiad. Conversely, even if not systematically negative, competing at home inevitably involves increased pressure. Today, few athletes can hope to complete their preparation in full privacy: your every move is scrutinized, via social networks for example. But athletes need tranquility to perform their routines and put themselves in that famous bubble that renders them impervious to external pressure. In Paris, in 2024, one of the challenges for the tricolour camp will be knowing how to protect its athletes.

P. I. — The story that the athletes will tell is the story of the values of sport ...

A. B. — This story is all the lovelier for not being limited to individual destinies. Behind an athlete’s progress, there are clubs, associations, volunteers, a whole ecosystem that Paris 2024 will be able to highlight. Support is fundamental to enable a high-level athlete to go as far as possible.

P. I. — Successful Games in 2024 will be Games that produce a bountiful crop of tricolor medals …

A. B. — Collecting medals is an important component, but the quest for results should not be treated as sacred either. Successful Olympics are first and foremost Games that leave a legacy. This will be quantifiable, and will be measured by the enthusiasm of the French for practising sport. At the moment, there is a big gap within the population: on the one hand, there is a real appetite for physical exercise – periods of confinement have coincided with a surge in sports tutorials; on the other, sedentary habits remain difficult to shake off. This last situation is all the more harmful since it does not take much to get back in shape: walking at a rate of 30 minutes a day will get the most sedentary people into a virtuous pattern. In any case, there is no room for complexes: runners are happy to talk to you about a marathon, but those who prefer to go no more than 15 minutes in short bursts should not feel undervalued.

P. I. — You advocate healthy sports …

A. B. — The positive impact of regular physical activity is recognised unanimously: there are obvious benefits for weight problems, cardiovascular disease or mental health. This list of pathologies for which sport provides a complementary remedy, or is even a remedy in itself, is not exhaustive.

P. I. — Do you fear an impact from the health crisis on the Games in Paris?

A. B. — The only impact I have noticed so far lies in upheaval to the calendar. For swimming, the postponement of competitions due to Covid has forced international authorities to take measures that are sometimes inconsistent. But these calendar changes put constraints on an athlete’s physiology, given that each deadline is preceded by a reduction in training rates, by about half. With regard to the Paris 2024 Olympics, swimmers will have to get used to yo-yoing, unless they skip some potential competitions so as to give preference to training for the Olympics. The period promises to be as complicated as it is exciting ...