~ Elodie Clouvel, silver medallist at Rio 2016, and Valentin Belaud, double world champion, are the leading couple in French modern pentathlon, a sport where adaptation is key. It turns out it's quite a good skill to have in this unprecedented time.
"VAN" (Sports Desk) :: Modern pentathlon is one of the Olympics' most fascinating disciplines. Not only because it’s a combination of five sports, but because those five sports are so different from each other. Fencing (épée), swimming (200m freestyle), equestrian (horse jumping), shooting and running (combined) — you cannot have any weak points. At least if you want to be on top.
"To become Olympic Champion, you have to be excellent in every sport. In the contemporary modern pentathlon, there is no room for any weak points." Those are the words of Rio 2016 French silver medallist Elodie Clouvel. Along with her boyfriend Valentin Belaud, who became the youngest world champion ever in 2016 and regained his title in 2019, they could be Tokyo 2020's new golden couple. And that’s what they aiming for. Having been together for 5 years, they are helping each other to remain among the best pentathletes in the world.
The couple agreed to talk to Tokyo 2020 about their sport, passions and life today, as they live temporarily in France's countryside during the lockdown, preparing themselves as much as they can.
Fifty shades of adaptation
When they heard the news about the lockdown in March 2020, Clouvel and Belaud immediately rented a large house in Landes, France, to continue with their preparations. Even though they couldn't swim or ride a horse, they adapted to the situation. In reality, not much changed for them as they both explained that in modern pentathlon "we constantly adapt ourselves". So they adapted.
Isolated from the COVID-19 outbreak, the French couple shared their feelings about the situation: "We acted fast as soon as we learnt about the lockdown," explains Valentin Belaud. "Our federation is supporting us and here we can train for shooting, fencing and running. But we can’t swim or ride a horse."
That is quite an issue, but they have adapted to the situation. It actually does not change a lot for them as they both explained that in modern pentathlon "we constantly adapt ourselves". So they adapted.
Adaptation is key in modern pentathlon. At the Olympics, the fencing ranking round is on the first day, then all of the others sports are on the second day, including a fencing bonus round. That means that in a single day, within less than six hours, the athletes have to compete in five sports at an intense level, with each sport requiring different skills that may be technical, tactical, mental, intellectual or physical.
To reach the top level, your week has to resemble the schedule of a multi-sport training camp. But not only for one week in summer. Every single week. For Valentin and Elodie, a week is scheduled with that in mind:
Every morning: Swimming followed by fencing or shooting
Every afternoon: Running or combined running and shooting
Twice a week: Equestrian
Tokyo2020
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