The Olympic Race is definitely special, I have learnt it from my Beijing experience. It's not just a race, it is THE RACE and I see it as a great opportunity to do what I love in front of the world's eyes.
My 2012 Olympic "build up" started back in november 2008 but as an athlete it has been 15 years of everyday training. I have evolved with time but I always stayed focus on achieving my short/middle term goals without forgeting my ultimate target.
For 2011, I had only one goal: secure an olympic spot as soon as I had an opportunity. This is what I did in London WCS. For the first time in my sporting career I had my fastest race of the year on the race that everybody wanted to win ( this is something I was working on the last 18months).
I had to sacrifice for it, especially in the events prior to the Olympic selection but nevermind... It was what I had to do!
My second target of the year was the end of the season with the World Championship final in Beijing and two weeks later the French National Championship.
Once again I was happy with my performances with a 5th in Beijing and winning my second french champion title.
And finally, I raced consistently all year round ( see World tour 2011) and out of my 17 races I had 16 top 12 finishes including 13 top 7, 6 podium and 4 victories.
These are only statistics and they are just an indicator of how my training is going.
The only thing I keep in my mind for next year's training is IMPROVING as much as possible sticking to my targets, I won't waste my time analysing everybody elses performances.
Anyway, after a few weeks break, I am now back into my training in New Zealand and for the fourth year in a row I will prepare my season of racing in Christchurch with Andrea.
Andrea had a fantastic year, probably a bit better than what she expected. She also qualified for the Games, got 2nd at World Champs, won the final of the World Champs, won in Yokohama and enjoyed the feeling of a victory on home soil at the Auckland World Cup!
Now it's back to normal, we train hard as and I am really looking forward to 2012. I am operating a few changes and I will let you know soon...Surprise surprise!
I wish you a great Xmas holiday, all the best for your goals and never forget that you can't control the performances of others but you can control yours.
Laurent
