“Both! First, I know her coach, Michaël Van der Plaetsen, very well, and we always have a lot of fun meeting up. Then, Nafi still having the status of double Olympic champion at the time, he was to see how her preparation was going and how the COIB could perhaps support her even better on the road to the Paris Games. Nafi of course already has her own organization where everything is very well organized but when we can allow her. to win even if it than half a percent, I think we should not hesitate. We talked a lot and emphasized certain points, I think, that we showed him all our confidence.
You even had the opportunity to share one of his training sessions for the 800 m. Did what you saw during your visit reassure you?
“Yes, completely. I was able to see that the professionalism of Nafi and Michaël was pushed to 200%. Each day of training begins with a visit to the physiotherapist, then a good warm-up, stretching, relaxation of the fascia, before to start the session itself. And, believe me, these are not small sessions! In terms of performances, Nafi was doing things she had never done before. Spahl, our head of mission, and all the people involved at the COIB to say that everything was OK, that the preparation was going in the right direction. Of course, you never know how the competition trains, but, for us, it is. “was already very promising.”
Was staying fit the main thing for her before tackling the Olympic Games?
“Yes, after the problems with the Achilles tendons that she had experienced in 2023, it was especially necessary for Nafi to regain all her physical resources and to be able to keep this problem under control. She managed this aspect very well with her team medical in South Africa and with the help of Dr Bellemans and other members of the staff here in Belgium.”
gullThe Euro? Nafi exuded so much confidence that we knew it was the right choice.
Before the Olympics, there was another important meeting in June, the European Championships in Rome where she played her qualification. A formality?
“We never doubted that she would qualify for this event but I don’t know if we can talk about a formality. It’s never ‘just’ the European Championships, it remains a competition high level, with pressure, expectations and a heptathlon is never an easy feat. But I did not agree with the opinion of some who considered it risky to wait until one of the last opportunities to. qualify. The risk of injury is still there. in athletics. And if there had been an accident like a fall, there was still a plan B. Regardless, Nafi exuded so much confidence that we knew it was the right choice.”
And the course of the competition proved him right…
“She won her third European champion title with a good total of points (Editor’s note: 6,848)she didn’t just try to qualify. We could see that she was already in good shape and that she was enjoying the track. After this Euro, all observers were reassured about Nafi’s mental and physical abilities.”
Euro athletics: Nafi Thiam wins his third European title and validates his ticket for Paris, Noor Vidts third
This one presented itself as the big favorite in Paris. Was she unusually nervous when she arrived?
“Not that I know of! I wasn’t in the village but I obviously went to greet Michaël. I preferred to leave Nafi in her concentration bubble. She seemed very well prepared and serene, which her coach also told me.”
gullWe almost watched Noor’s performances more (Vidts) than those of Nafi…
The first day of the heptathlon confirmed her good intentions, with a provisional second place 48 points behind Katarina Johnson-Thompson. How did you feel at that moment?
“Confident. And I have to tell you something: we almost looked more at the performances of Noor Vidts, who could finish third or fourth, than those of Nafi who was gradually moving towards gold! With the margin she has on her opponents on the second day, we knew she was off to a good start.”
An injury during the long jump almost compromised the end of his heptathlon. Did you have this information in the stadium?
“Yes, I received the information quite quickly but without knowing the exact seriousness of her injury and especially without knowing the impact it would have on the rest of the competition. When I was told that she had a knee problem but she was going to be able to continue, I still heaved a sigh of relief. When I saw her at work with the javelin, I knew it was in the bag.”
Didn’t you count down the seconds following KJT’s 800m finish?
“Yes of course, I was sitting in the stands with my partner Evi (Van Acker)and I even had my time in hand, for Nafi and for Noor. For the first, we understood very quickly that it was OK, and for the second it was also a happy ending. I won’t hide from you that when the confirmation of these two medals came, I sat down and shed a little tear. All the emotions come out in a moment like this. It was a special day, with a roller coaster like you can only experience at the Olympic Games in the space of a few hours: I was coming back from hockey, where the Panthers had unfortunately been beaten for bronze, and I was watching in the quest for two medals, a few minutes before learning that Sarah Chaari had also won a place on the podium for her first Olympics.”
After this third Olympic title, where do you place Nafi Thiam in the history of Belgian sport? Is there still room for discussion that she is the greatest champion our country has ever known?
gullShe is, without a doubt, the greatest Belgian female athlete of all time.
“For me, there is no doubt: Nafi is the greatest Belgian female athlete of all time. Not only is she the greatest Olympian, with three gold medals, but when you see what she has won like world and European titles between each of them, there is no discussion possible. There is one word to sum up his career: extraordinary.
Is it realistic to think that she could still compete in the Los Angeles Games in 2028?
“It’s difficult to say. If she takes good care of herself and her body, if she has the desire to go there, I think it’s possible. But we find ourselves in an Olympics again complete four years, and not three like between the Tokyo Games and those in Paris, and that still changes certain things. Nafi is right to want to be allowed to enjoy what she has just accomplished. will then come by itself.”
Can new world or European titles still be enough to keep her motivated for four years?
“I believe that Nafi, with his track record today, no longer thinks that way. The only real question to ask is: do I still want to lead this life as a top athlete? level? The general public often underestimates the importance of the sacrifices that are made on a daily basis and the permanent investment that athletics requires. It is in the pleasure of practicing his sport that Nafi finds his motivation more than in the. objectives that we set for her. The day she no longer wants this life, she will stop, whether before or after Los Angeles.”
