INTERVIEW. The Paris 2024 Olympics, his French record, the Tokyo Worlds… Gabriel Tual looks back on his crazy season and reveals his objectives

Relaxed. Less than a month after his last race of the season in Brussels, Gabriel Tual appeared smiling for his return to Lot-et-Garonne, a few days after a well-deserved vacation in the Maldives. For almost half an hour, the 26-year-old athlete looked back on his brilliant year 2024. Interview.

Gabriel, how are you?

I’m doing well ! I recharged my batteries at home and on vacation with friends. I resumed very light training, with leisure running. But, in recent weeks, I returned to Prayssas to my parents. I also went to the Maldives with a friend. I did things you don’t do as an athlete, like just reading or swimming with sharks. I’ve been running left and right since May. It felt good to do nothing all day and put the phone down.

“I have always been ambitious”

Especially since you ended the season on your knees…

I set my peak form for the Games, like everyone else. We performed well after the Games in Lausanne, but we finished the season at 1′ 43”. It was clear that the athletes couldn’t take it anymore. We ask a lot of the body. I competed for four months. It’s huge, because it’s normally two months. We juggle between pain, mental… I haven’t had a beach day all summer. There was only running. The risk is too great to ruin a season by playing football at the beach. That makes it average.

How do you judge your season?

I was lucky. My season started very well. This propelled me towards the idea of ​​going for a medal at the Games. My only disappointment is not having brought home any medals. This is the only frustration I have today. Afterwards, I was in good shape. I gave 100% and there were no tactical errors. I have nothing to reproach myself for. My opponents were better. In the Top 10 best athletes of all time, there are still five this year…

How did you bounce back from this disappointment?

The fact of having missed motivated me for the end of the season. But overall, it’s good. I have always been ambitious. But if someone had told me five months ago that I would do all this, I would have signed straight away. On the accomplished fact, we are a little disappointed. But we need to take a step back. The results are good. I gave my all in every race, and I’m happy.

“In nine cases out of ten, the offensive strategy pays off”

Also read:
Paris 2024 Olympic Games – Athletics: “We are still proud of him” in Prayssas, we celebrate his champion Gabriel Tual despite the disappointment

Could you have done better at the Games?

The others were very strong. We also had two races in the front legs, and I am not very far from my record. It’s huge. If we compare to other editions, I came 3rd in London in 2012 and I won all the other editions before. Except that this year, there are three in 1′ 41”. Afterwards, maybe if I hadn’t attacked earlier, I would have finished 4th or 5th. But if I don’t attack and I go 4th, I’m stuck! Because I wouldn’t have tried. Me, I’m aiming to win and, at worst, the medal. The proverb says that you should always aim for the moon, because even if you fail, you land among the stars. I am an action person. I prefer not to succeed and to have tried. He who doesn’t try already loses. In nine out of ten cases, the offensive strategy pays off.

And how did you find the atmosphere?

It was crazy. It’s so hard to describe what it feels like to be an athlete. It vibrates! I couldn’t hear myself breathing. It’s very disturbing at first. This shocked me at first. Once you experience it, you get used to it. But as soon as I hit the track, there were 70,000 people screaming. We don’t realize it at the time. A week later, I wanted to go back and be a spectator of my own race.

Were you surprised?

We were all surprised. I knew some wouldn’t be ready. But you can prepare as much as you want, it won’t be the same on the big day. I knew how to manage and that pushed me further. I had timed my race in relation to Sedjati. He had won everything. If I wanted to beat him, I had to attack from afar. Finally, my strategy paid off. Because Sedjati finished third, but she paid for Wanyonyi… He ran very well. He knew he had to close the door on me. The mistake, and even then it’s not even one, is to have been on the outside of the track. It came at a dear price.

Also read:
Athletics: Gabriel Tual, fourth in the 800 meters in Brussels, “frustrated” despite his crazy season

“We were all shocked, wondering what had happened”

Despite this result, are these Games the best moment of your season?

(He thinks) I don’t know… The atmosphere remains something that we will never experience again. This emotion was crazy. It brought shivers and tears to the eyes because there was so much noise. During the final, when we entered the track, I passed in front of a lot of people. They had tears in their eyes and were crying even though they don’t even know me! They were just proud to see a Frenchman in this final.

There is also this shattered French record, with a time of 1’41”61 in July…

This is what struck me the most. I entered another dimension. 1’41”, it was not possible. I would never have believed it. Behind, I confirm three times. It was exceptional. Plus, it was at the Paris meeting in front of my family and my friends. We were all shocked, wondering what had happened.

From now on, you are starting a new cycle…

Yes, a new cycle with, in my sights, the Diamond League circuits and the world championships in Tokyo, from September 13 to 21, where I hope to have my first world medal. That would be good. That’s the goal anyway. And then try to further lower this French record and, why not, get the French and world record. But you shouldn’t try to beat him. You must try to give the best of yourself, because you must not only think about that, otherwise it is the best way to miss out.

Also read:
Athletics: “I didn’t leave like a madman…” After the disappointment of the Paris Olympics, Gabriel Tual returns to the podium in Lausanne

“The idea is always the medal”

Are the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028 also in the back of your mind?

Maybe I will do an internship in partnership with Creps de Bordeaux. It would be magical to get some bearings. We discussed it with my coach Bernard Mossant. We’re going back for four years. It will be a third attempt for a first Olympic medal, I hope. But it will be complicated. We’ll have to see what form I’m in at the moment, and what I’ll be in at 30.

With the idea of ​​going for an Olympic medal perhaps…

The idea is always the medal. Even though I race a lot to win, the medal is the goal. I have two Olympic finals, a world final, a European title… I am equipped with experience to perform in major championships. I compete against the best every year. It becomes almost commonplace.