Athlete Spotlight: Olivier Lecerf

If you’ve perused my coaching related writing over the past few years, you might have picked up on something I’ve referred to often: a ‘male athlete archetype’ where the athlete in question already knows everything there is to know about triathlon training and certainly doesn’t need a coach to help guide him. I know a lot about this type of athlete because, well, that athlete was me! I was tough to coach for my first ever triathlon coach Jennifer Hutchison, and it took quite a few lectures from her, some initial belief on my part, and eventually a ‘breakthrough moment’ when I won the collegiate national championship in 2007 to get me to fully believe in the program.

But what about a different type of male athlete who listens, learns, and improves straight from the outset? Enter Olivier Lecerf, because he is exactly that athlete. I had my doubts at first – Olivier had all the hallmarks of someone who might not buy into the training program at. Hear it from Olivier himself:

I was drawn to the challenge of training three sports, and thought I could meet this challenge through  “well thought out ” training plans, developed by yours truly (who knows me best but me)? This disciplined approach I figured, would also help mitigate my limited physical abilities… It worked “OK” for a while, despite occasional injuries, some race blowups, overtraining, and a certain plateauing of results over time…  But hey, this HAD to be due to the inevitable aging effects, and maybe not being tough enough right?When Kevin and I interviewed each other, part of me was already disillusioned with the “personal” coaching idea: the latest fad of the day, something to brag around a beer, etc…

Indeed Olivier seemed skeptical, but coaching challenges are fun and often rewarding, so I set out to show him that real coaching works. Despite this skepticism, Olivier absorbed the training and strategies like a sponge from day one. The first thing we did was solve his ‘mile 8 of the run bonk’ problem he had at 70.3 distance races. It was purely nutritional, and once he started eating and drinking the appropriate amount of carbohydrate and fluids needed to finish the half-marathon without bonking it was a breakthrough moment for him. This supercharged his belief in the program and thus his performance in races. He started setting goals and knocking them off one by one. One goal was to qualify for the World Champs in Finland, and another was to break six hours in a 70.3. He qualified for Finland at 70.3 Indian Wells in 2022, and smashed six hours at the same race the following year with a PB time of 5:45:46.

Onsite with Olivier at 70.3 Oceanside earlier this year – introducing the concepts of the two nights out spaghetti dinner and day before race pancake breakfast. Carbs are your friend!

More from Olivier:

Well, if you talk to Kevin, he sure doesn’t oversell himself (typical engineer)! BUT you will sense the experience and confidence gained from years of competing at world class level, coaching at other well known outfits. But most importantly, Kevin clearly likes coaching and developing his athletes:  no top/down lectures (although he will get his point across when needed), analyzes the data, listens to feedback, provides directions for improvement, adjusts the schedule as needed (I never get more than 8 days of training schedule… Goodbye canned stuff!!) all those little things you just cannot get from a cookie cutter approach.

In short, Olivier is a joy to coach and he broke the mold of the ‘know it all’ male athlete archetype. It’s great to see him accomplishing his goals in the 65-69AG while also matching or beating his performance from 15 years ago. Look for him at 70.3 World Champs in Taupo this December – I’ll be there to make the pancakes!

Kevin, I can’t thank you enough for the help you have been providing to a “not so young” guy, and I am absolutely geeked for what comes next from this training partnership.

Olivier on the podium at T100 Las Vegas last month.

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