Der ehemalige französische Biathlet Martin Fourcade wurde 5-mal Olympiasieger, 13-mal Weltmeister und 7-mal Gewinner der Weltcup-Gesamtwertung
Martin Fourcade wird zusammen mit anderen Athleten von Odlo am 55. Engadin Skimarathon teilnehmen. Wir konnten vorab mit ihm ein Interview beim Odlo Community Event halten. Das Interview mit Martin Fourcade zum Engadin Skimarathon mit persönlichen Einblicken folgt in Englisch.
Interview mit Martin Fourcade zum Engadin Skimarathon
- Martin Fourcade, you have conquered so many peaks in Biathlon. How does this unique challenge of long-distance racing like the Engadin ski marathon compare?
«I cannot compare it because it is not the same spirit that I have competing tomorrow for the race. I want to enjoy the experience, to have fun with friends and with the Odlo Company. I am not in a performance mood. I dropped competition five years ago, and I do not expect or aim for a podium or for a victory. I will take the race how it comes without any specific preparation. It is difficult for me to compare the things where I gave my life for and the competition I do for fun.
I am glad I will compete in a mass event. When you are a professional athlete, you are always far from the practice and far from the people. This event means that elite athletes are competing with the others and it is good to be there and to see that special atmosphere tomorrow. I am glad to discover the Engadin Valley as well because it is my first time there and it is beautiful.»
- The Engadin ski marathon is known for its diverse conditions. What would you say would be a strategy for this year?
«We are doing an outdoor sport and it is what I learned I think after my career is that you need to accept the outdoor conditions. I hope that this year we can accept beautiful conditions. I think tomorrow will be fast. I recommend people not being afraid of a fast start as sometimes. In normal conditions, I would suggest to take it really, easy at the beginning because the race will be long, and it will be hard. I think the race tomorrow it will be fast. You need to enjoy the glide. You need to also to benefit from the mass and from the aspiration. So do not be afraid of taking some risks.»
- Beyond the competition, what was your first impression on the valley of Engadin and the ski marathon? How did you feel about that place here?
«For now I feel comfortable and I want to come back to spend time with family and kids on these beautiful valleys. I really love it. I must say it is a paradise of cross-country skiing and it is a shame that I do not discover it before. I would have loved to have a training camp here during my career to enjoy the longer tracks, the flats, the valleys.»
- What single piece of advice would you give to a beginner starting this year?
«Enjoy the glide. We are doing a glide sport and if you are only trying to go from one push to the other, you miss the free energy of the glide. You know when you are pushing you are spending energy, when you are gliding you are benefiting from that energy. In addition, often people want to push too much and do not enjoy the glide. So I will recommend to every beginner to try to glide as much as possible and to enjoy this free energy.»
- Looking ahead, your biathlon career is behind you. Do you see yourself engaging in more events like the ski marathon?
«For me it is difficult because as I told at the beginning of the interview, I feel always in the space between. I’m a competitor and I know that tomorrow at the starting line I could not say to my guys, it’s not a competition, but in another way I know that I’ve done my time in preparation.
You know for me tomorrow 42km in cross-country skiing is not a big difficulty because I have done it many times not in competition but in training so I know that I will do it and it is not like something I need to challenge myself to do. I am doing sport on a daily basis so it is not a motivation to go like to have a competition to stay shape or to stay fit.
In another way, I know that to be good you need to spend your time to dedicate to prepare and that I do not want to do it anymore. I did that for 20 years giving my life and my family and my free time to be good and I know that I have not that energy anymore. So each time I am at the start of the competition I am a bit in the between.
This will of competing it’s part of my DNA and also this knowledge that I didn’t prepare for the competition and that I can’t be proud of myself because I will just do the best of I can. But I did not do the best as I can the last month to be good tomorrow. For me, for now, competing is still difficult thing because it is difficult to think about it as I did before and it was such a big part of my life. I yet do not find my way of competing again.»
- The fire is still burning in you and you are ready to spread the fire with others in such a big event?
« I think now I need to be a bit more in a friendly mode when I am doing a competition. I did a few competitions with my wife and friends this year and this was fun. However, competing against myself, I think I have done it too much and with too much intensity for making sense today. It is not the same intensity now.»
- How is your collaboration with Odlo is and what do you appreciate about that brand?
«Odlo has been a part of my life since I was a kid. I remember the first ski suit I asked my parents to buy when I was the age of 12. Before my mother was clothing me and one day I said no, mum you do not choose anymore, I want that one and that was an Odlo. From that day, I was competing in the French team with Odlo, with being in contract with Odlo for the Olympics and for example winning in in Vancouver and Pyeongchang with an Odlo suit as well.
Odlo has been part of my life and part of how I dress and who I am. And the thing I like today in our collaboration is that I think we share truly the same values of enjoying the nature, the mountain, being like an outdoor athlete, not in a single sport, but doing mountain biking, running, doing gravel cycling, doing cross-country skiing, doing ski mountaineering. It is the way I see my life now.
Odlo is my best partner to push me and to take care of me doing these daily fights, or daily pleasure time. We are also opening the vision when it is about activations like today or about possibility of communication. I am glad to be involved in a brand where you have a big impact when everything you say on the product and the marketing is quickly applied. I love that collaboration.»
Thank you Martin for the interview. We wish you all the best.
Quelle Bilder: Odlo
