© Stade de France ®
Macary, Zublena et Regembal
Costantini - Architects
ADAGP - Paris - 2002
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COMPETITION  PORTRAITS |
 M. RAQUIL : "I THOUGHT ZIDANE WAS ON THE TRACK"
Paris 2003 Saint-Denis
Marc Raquil and Leslie Djhone are inseparable. Looking bright despite the previous night’s party, they looked back on the 400m final that thrilled the crowd at the Stade de France®.
"Marc and Leslie, how do you feel the day after such an epic 400m final?
Marc RAQUIL: It’s a great honour to have won a medal even though I’m disappointed for my friend here who wasn’t able to join me on the podium.
Leslie DJHONE: On the spur of the moment, when I saw I was just a few hundredths off the podium in fifth, I was obviously disappointed. But when you think about it and put things in perspective, I would say it’s been a great season considering it’s my first real year at 400m.
How did the evening go after such an incredible race?
LD: Marc and I talked about our holiday plans. Seriously, we talked about our race and analysed it on the video. We wanted to keep the feeling going, it was such a powerful moment we experienced together.
Marc, how did you react when the jury decided to re-examine the photo finish because there was still some uncertainty about the 3rd place?
MR: I was a bit worried at the time because even I thought I was fourth on the line. But it’s been confirmed now. I’m third and nobody’s going to take my medal away.
A word about the two guys who finished ahead of you, the Americans Jerome YOUNG and Tyree WASHINGTON?
MR: They have my total respect because they were very sporting. I don’t know them, I’d never met them, but they were very nice towards us. They congratulated Leslie and I sincerely and apparently they’ve said very flattering things about us. They congratulated our performances to our own crowd. They’re humble and their attitude is a long way from that of some 100m sprinters. It’s a sporting attitude, they come across as being good guys. And they said they looked forward to meeting us in the relay!
So what about the relay? What are your aims for the upcoming 4x400m relay with so many people talking about it already?
MR: There’s no doubt that a final like that makes you hungry for more! Leslie’s really sore, because he missed out so narrowly on the medals and he doesn’t want to go home without something to hang round his neck! The rest of the French relay team (Marc FOUCAN, Naman KEITA and Stéphane DIAGANA) are really up for it too! Our runs will really give them a boost to run a very fast race! If we produce 100%, behind the United States anything is possible!
Are you making any special plans for the event?
MR: First, we’re going to get a lot of rest. We need it because we gave everything yesterday and races like that take their toll. So we need to get our energy back before we go into action again.
Can you tell us what the likely or certain line-up will be for the French relay team?
LD: I’ll take the first stage and Marc the last, but everything will hang on the races and on what shape Stéphane and Naman are in for the other stages.
Tell us about your coach François Pépin…
LD: My relation with François is much more than just an ordinary relationship between a coach and an athlete. He has an enormous heart, he’s a passionate guy. He has played – and continues to play – a very important role in my life. He brought me the balance that I lacked. We have been through difficult times, more than once. Marc and I have had offers to change coaches but we’ve turned them down. No way can we quit François!
MR: François, is probably the person with whom I spend the most time. I see him even more than my parents so obviously that creates bonds that go way beyond daily training routines. He know how I feel, what I feel, he understands me completely, he knows how to decode me. He’s a remarkable man, and he fully deserves what it is happening for him through us. In fact it’s a good thing he knows how to channel our energies!
In what sense?
MR: It’s true that I give the impression of being a mad dog, running all over the place and being unmanageable. That may have been true in the past but I think that I’ve settled down. Those are just appearances. Inside myself, and François knows that, I’m a reasonable guy. In any case, if it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t have been what I am now.
Let’s get back to that memorable final. Marc, can you give us a quick analysis of your race strategy because it’s a bit of a mystery?
MR: No but where did you see a strategy? I swear I never thought the race would go like that! In any case if I had had a race strategy it wouldn’t have been the right one! I tried to get out of the blocks fast but I don’t have the same basic speed as Leslie. Fortunately my endurance makes up for that lack of initial speed. I suddenly felt really tired half way through the race but I knew that I could produce a big final push when my opponents would almost certainly be running out of steam. That’s what happened, but nothing like what I could have imagined.
Do you plan to work differently in the future to avoid this kind of situation?
MR: Sure. It’s not the best way to win a race. In fact, I didn’t win it! When I’m capable to hit the final straight on a level with the rest of the field then it’ll be a new story and I’m going to bust the stopwatches! I think it’s essentially a mental problem because physically I can’t see what’s wrong. I’m still a bit short on self-confidence and don’t have the nerve to give everything from the start.I hold something back just in case, and from one race to the next I keep producing the same race pattern without really doing it deliberately. I think I’m going to try to analyse it with a sports psychologist to try to find an answer to the problem. Ideally I’d like to run an even, well calculated race. To do that I’ll have to step up my basic speed by running more 200m during the season.
So tell us more about the bond between you, your taste for the 400m…
MR: The 400m is in fact an interesting distance because you have time to build a race, to think, and to make up for a weakness with a strength: it’s less down to luck than the 100m, where you know, for example, that if you’re slow out of the blocks, you’ve lost the race. But before the start it’s always hard to forget that it’s going to hurt.
How did you feel inside, then after the race, in front of the fans’ reaction when they gave you both an ovation?
MR: The Stade de France was rocking like in 1998: I even thought that Zidane was on the track at the time of the start the crowd were shouting so much! But no, it was for us! Nevertheless, the spectators treated us equally encouraging both of us equally, which was really nice. The cries of “allez, les Bleus” to encourage use were something fantastic! We had an incredible time out there! My heart was thumping very hadr on the start line. Honestly, I didn’t think the whole experience would have been so powerful! And now, I want to go through the whole thing again in the relay!
So no regrets about the way it ended up at the Stade de France?
MR: No, no regrets, even though silver was so close. I’m really happy to have this World Championship medal.
LD: What I lacked was experience. The pain in my calf mid-race was a handicap too. But I’m young and still learning. Few people thought I would get where I am. I’ll be even stronger next year at the Olympic Games.
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