The French women's 4x100m team in Nassau - Helene Parisot, Mallory Leconte, Chloe Galet and Gemima Joseph (© Francesca Grana)
The road to sporting glory often leads through ups and downs. Along the way, there are key milestones that every athlete passes.
In the second instalment of a new series where athletes reflect on five key steps on their path to the Paris Olympic Games, the French women’s 4x100m quartet of Chloe Galet, Gemima Joseph, Helene Parisot and Mallory Leconte – who finished second in the final after the nation qualified for their home Olympics at the World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24 – each recount the moments that have got them to this point in their careers.
Our performance is the conclusion of hard work…
Helene Parisot: “We have been working so hard these past two years all together. We have been working on our changeovers and it’s a big step to prove that we are able to do that during a big, big event and during competition, because we have been doing that at home and during training all the time. This is just confirmation.”
Last year I decided to move to Switzerland to prepare for the Olympics…
Parisot: “I changed coaches, I have put everything into this year. Personally, I am the oldest (in the relay squad), I am 31. I have been working so hard for so long, for 15 years now. I am ready. It is a big step, but it is just my way, and it has arrived now. The Olympics is the main goal and then the year after we have the World Championships. It brings a lot of confidence for us and for our group.”
Mallory Leconte, Helene Parisot, Chloe Galet and Gemima Joseph celebrate with their French teammates in Nassau (© Francesca Grana)
I had to believe that anything is possible…
Chloe Galet: “Clearly the key was to gain confidence in myself, because I've been doing athletics for years. Although I was good, I wasn't at the top level in France either, so I just had to work on my mentality and my self-confidence and simply believe that anything is possible. That's what opened the doors to top level athletics for me.”
My first Olympic qualification in Tokyo in 2021 was a big moment…
Gemima Joseph: “A turning point was when I stopped thinking that I was destined to remain a mainstream athlete who couldn't make it at an international level. You know, doing the French Championships, staying at a basic level, when I decided that I could have this access, that there were no limits, and that's when the barriers really came down on their own and there was a real revival in my career.”
Mallory Leconte and Chloe Galet celebrate at the World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24 (© Francesca Grana)
It was just a childhood dream of mine…
Mallory Leconte: “Ever since I was a little girl, I saw the Olympics on TV and I said to myself: ‘one day I'm going to be there too and I'm going to work for it.’ That's how I got a membership in a club in Saint-Denis, and that's when I said to myself: ‘let's go, this is for me.’ I worked really hard with my twin brother, Jerry Leconte, and we've been training right up until today. Today it's no longer a dream – it's a goal, and it's here. We achieved it (Olympic qualification) yesterday, and I'm really happy. I live five minutes from the Stade de France, so it's next door. The Games are at my home, it's where I've always trained, so it's like being at home.”
