the essential
Since June 15, 2024, Nathan Caparros, a young man from Tarn-et-Garonne, has been a double European obstacle course champion after his victories in Folgaria, Italy. As a true enthusiast, he tells us about this little-known sporting discipline that has all the makings of an obstacle course.
“When we were younger, when we couldn’t find him, we just had to look up to see him perched in a tree,” confides Thierry Caparros, his father. Nathan Caparros, is thirty years old, lives in La Salvetat-Belmontet (Tarn-et-Garonne) and sport is his whole life. He is the European OCR champion in the Short (3 km race and 20 obstacles) and Standard (15 km and 40 obstacles) categories in his age category, 30-34 years old. The athlete also distinguished himself in the team race without finishing on the podium (excuse the little).
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OCR is an obstacle course. An obstacle course, in short. “The obstacles change from one competition to another,” explains the athlete. The ideas are varied to make the competitors suffer: wall to cross, rope to climb, stone ball to move…
“You have to be tough, but also powerful and explosive,” the athlete confides, before adding with a laugh: “You often have pain. Sometimes, you feel like throwing up. But you never give up.” To finish these races, surpassing yourself is more than necessary. “What stands out about Nathan is his constant motivation, even in failure,” notes David Gosse, his running coach.
A sporty youth
With a father who does ultra trails (over 80 km) and a mother who runs and hikes a lot, Nathan Caparros is immersed in a sporting world. “When he was little, he and his brother were always climbing everywhere,” his father jokes. Having grown up in the countryside, nature is his playground.
Photo private collection
At the age of nine, he began practicing climbing in Montauban. Then other sports came to mark his (fighter) path as an athlete: mountain biking, karate, crossfit, boxing… “Nathan never liked to party, says Thierry Caparros. He always turned to sport. For his mother and me, it is important that our sons are sporty. It is important for their health”. After high school, the young athlete entered Staps (science and technology of physical and sporting activities) with the ambition of becoming both a sports coach and a high-level athlete.
Eager for challenges, the young man was a finalist in season 3 of “Ninja Warrior” and participated in the Ultimate Beast Master, a show produced by Sylvester Stallone
Today, his life is punctuated by his training and coaching sessions with individuals and groups of young people, doing everything out of “passion”.
Nathan Caparros has also appeared on screen. He was a finalist in season 3 of Ninja Warrior and participated in the Ultimate Beast Master in 2018, a show produced by Sylvester Stallone. He also represented France as a team at the Gov games in Dubai in February 2024.
“All the competitions and shows allow me to legitimize myself with potential partners,” he explains. Because he needs funding to continue to practice his passion. Taking part in competitions, he is waiting for the world championships to be held in Costa Rica next August.
