How athletes prepared for the toughest marathon in Olympic history

On Saturday and Sunday, the runners will face a height difference never seen before in a championship marathon. Accustomed to rolling courses, they have had to adapt their training.

Fifteen kilometers of appetizer, then a hearty flat of hills, followed by a dizzying descent, before concluding with around ten rather rolling kilometers to reach the finish at Les Invalides. Revealed in October 2022, the Olympic marathon course was quick to provoke reactions. The reason was its unprecedented elevation gain: 436 m of climbing and almost as much descent (438 m). To qualify for the Olympic Games, the athletes ran after high minimums (2h08’10 for men, 2h26’50 for women), favoring the flattest possible courses. But once they had been selected, they had to review their preparation and strategy for what could be the toughest marathon in the history of the Olympic Games.

“We will have to train differently, with strengthening, hills, long-term work on uneven ground,” detailed in the spring the holder of the French record (2h24’12), Méline Rollin. The Ardennes native was not unhappy to deviate from the usual patterns for her third marathon preparation in ten months, after those of Amsterdam in October 2023 and Seville in February.

Like most of the French team, such as Nicolas Navarro, Mekdes Woldu and Mélody Julien, Méline Rollin spent an entire month treading the trails of the heights of Font-Romeu, in the Pyrenees. There, marathon runners multiplied their hill sessions. A one-off in the context of preparing for a rolling marathon, this work became a must. The aim: to ensure that the Olympians could swallow, with the least possible damage, the five kilometres of ascent at Ville-d’Avray, with already 15 kilometres at high speed in the legs, then the formidable Côte des Gardes, 900 m of slope with a maximum incline of 13.5%, placed just before the 30th kilometre.

“A marathon always starts around the 30th and then we’ll have the series (of hills) in our legs. If we’re knackered at the bottom of the descent, the return to Les Invalides will be very, very long,” Nicolas Navarro, 12th in Tokyo, recalled at a press conference. This veteran of the slopes, who trains on the hilly roads between Var and Bouches-du-Rhône, has planned to “stay cautious in the first two thirds of the race”.

Just as difficult, the descent which follows the Côte des Gardes includes “a very tricky passage at 13.4% to arrive at Issy-les-Moulineaux at 32nd kilometers”, indicated Alain Blondel, athletics manager at Paris 2024, during the presentation of the route. Often neglected by amateur marathoners, the descents have also been the subject of specific work.

“There is an adaptation to be made in the stride. In general, you have to shorten your stride on the climbs, and find more ease on the descents. The positions of the pelvis and shoulders are also very important.”

Félix Bour, marathon runner for the French team

at a press conference

With two Marseille-Cassis races under his belt, a race renowned for its elevation, the French marathon runner was well aware of the importance of training downhill. “These are small details that can play a role if you haven’t prepared for them and worked on them in training.” Sometimes with the adoption of a new stride, there is a danger of seeing pain appear in muscles that were previously less used.

“We must find the right balance between quality and working the muscles differently. We must not tip over into injury,” insists Lahcen Salhi, responsible for monitoring runners from 10,000 m to marathon at the French Athletics Federation. To best optimize training, the latter also highlights the importance of diet and work to determine the necessary intake (both in hydration and nutrition) on this atypical course. With the performance optimization cell, the French staff has thus tried to help its athletes find the right pace, the right stride and the right supplies, according to their own qualities.

“I spoke about it with Belgian and Norwegian athletes, they don’t do training based solely on hill work. You have to be able to recover too. The important thing is to be as fresh as possible on the big day,” adds Morhad Amdouni. The French record holder (2h03’47) actually hurt himself during a session of scouting the route of the Olympic marathon.

“I tested the Côte des Gardes, that’s where I got injured. These are the hazards of this sport. Strategically, we made some small mistakes.”

Morhad Amdouni, French marathon runner

at a press conference

The marathon runner assures that this recognition has nevertheless been of great help to him. “allowed to pass a psychological milestone” and of “know your pace on this course”. Several members of the French team have also chosen to hold a session or jog on the steepest sections of the route at the end of spring.

By not setting foot on the Olympic course, Félix Bour has chosen not to “not to get any ideas into one’s head”. The runner focused on mental preparation. “I know how to approach difficulties, it doesn’t scare me, he assures. There, I tried to work a lot on emotions. The public will help the French, it’s something that we’re not necessarily used to managing.” In the absence of running in their place, the spectators, expected in large numbers on the hill sections, could give them a second wind.