If he enters the European Championships in the favorite costume, Félix Lebrun does not seem in optimal shape as the competition begins.
It’s the big day for Félix Lebrun. The 18-year-old from Montpellier begins the European Championships this Thursday, his big goal at the end of the year. “ I can’t wait to get started,” he confided in comments relayed by L’Equipe. Since the Games, which took him into a new dimension, the double Olympic medalist has not been idle.
“The sequence, in September, was loaded. We had to thank our sponsors, go see the media, and at the same time we resumed training at the end of August. We trained once or twice a day and we had other things to do on the side, he explained. Physically it was fine, but mentally, you don’t have time for yourself. We knew it after the medals, and when we look back we will say to ourselves that we did well to do it, but for the ping it was not easy. »
Félix Lebrun maintains confidence
The results were visibly felt. During his return to the Grand Smash in Beijing, he was knocked out in the round of 16 by the local Xiang Peng, 64e world player. Enough to get him back down to 7e place in the world rankings. And last week, during the resumption of Pro A with the Entente Nîmes-Montpellier, he lost against Quadri Aruna (21st in the world). The French prodigy, seeded number one in Linz, is therefore not approaching these European Championships in the best conditions.
“We did not prepare these European Championships as we should”, also recognized his trainer, Nathanaël Molin. The person concerned maintains confidence. “It’s not easy to always be on task. From time to time we don’t succeed, and I think we shouldn’t lose confidence with one or two defeats. I managed to produce my best level in the biggest competition, for confidence that is priceless”, he whispered. A vision shared by his big brother. “I put him a little above everyone else, the rest is very homogeneous,” launched the elder, seeded number 7 in Austria.
