After a triumphant 2022, triathlete Emy Legault is having a more difficult 2023 season and is counting on the Montreal event, which takes place on Saturday, to regain confidence on familiar ground. “When you compete at home, the majority of people behind the barricades know you. It looks like you have a big team behind you, ”comments the Quebec athlete in an interview.
The year 2022 was “really a shock” for Emy Legault, with in particular a 10e place in Hamburg, Germany, his best result of his career.
Her dream season began in February, when she captured back-to-back silver medals at the Continental Cups in Viña del Mar and Villarica, Chile. These results revealed potential that she and her team had missed in previous years.
The triathlete achieved her ascent at the event in Yokohama, Japan, a few months later. Despite a shaky start in swimming, she didn’t give up.
I embarked on the race track and then I said to myself: “No time to waste. We have to start going up.”
Emy Legault
Emy Legault put his plan into action, then finished the event at 21e rank. A result that surprised both the athlete and her trainer.
The next success was not long in coming. A month later, Emy Legault won the silver medal at the World Cup in Huatulco, Mexico. She was crying as she crossed the finish line.
His best race ever
With this success in hand, Emy Legault completed her season “on cloud nine”. “Looks like I wasn’t thinking anymore, I was just going for it. »
She also says that she had her best career race in Abu Dhabi. And yet, nothing suggested such a conclusion.
Ten days before this last event of the World Series, a cyclist had fallen in front of her in the middle of a turn.
“I came back at 45 km/h in a pole, she remembers. My left hip took the hit. »
Arrived on site a few days before the event, Emy Legault was struggling to regain form. On D-Day, during the race, the mercury hovered around 40°C under the scorching sun of the United Arab Emirates. The athlete, however, did not panic.
“I was like, ‘Do your thing, be smart, and don’t take chances.’ »
Thus, the triathlete spared her energy by deciding to maintain a cautious speed, unlike the overheated runners in front of her. “Throughout the 10 km, I overtook them, one at a time,” recalls Legault, who finished the race injured, but in 22e position.
Overcome doubts
This year, the scenario is different. A 47e place in Abu Dhabi, a 40e place in Yokohama… Emy Legault recognizes that so far, 2023 is “harder”.
Despite her past successes, the triathlete is sometimes struck by impostor syndrome. “I wonder, ‘Was it really me who did those performances last year?’ »
Today, with her trainer, Emy Legault is trying a new approach: focusing on the technical aspects that she needs to improve, rather than aiming for a specific result. “I work to get every little thing done right. That’s how you get a good result. »
Only Quebecer in Montreal
The love story between Emy Legault and triathlon goes back a long way. The athlete plunged into sports from the age of 9. “Even when I was young it was a game, but not so much a game […]. I have always been competitive, ”recalls the native of Île-Perrot, met at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
At 16, the idea of an international career went “from a dream to a goal”. But the road to the top was not without obstacles. “In my head, there were a lot of doubts when I started. I started to perform less well,” she recalls.
PHOTO RENÉ MARQUIS, LA TRIBUNE ARCHIVES
In 2013, Emy Legault (left) with a triathlon silver medal at the Canada Games in Sherbrooke
“It took several years of hard work to get to the level where I am. »
Emy Legault will be the only Quebecer to compete in Montreal this weekend. Olympian Amélie Kretz, who was to take part in the event, withdrew to treat an injury. The Canadian champion is nonetheless an inspiration for Emy Legault.
“Amelie is a great model, observes Emy Legault. She has accomplished a lot. She really has an amazing work ethic. There are still great things to come for her. »
Objective: Paris 2024
Last year, Emy Legault embarked on the qualifying process for the triathlon event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. “I’ve always had this dream, to go to the Games,” said the triathlete, who is currently 31e in the World Olympic Qualification Rankings.
Emy Legault is not alone in the face of the Olympic dream: her sister, marathon runner Elissa Legault, also hopes to carve out a place on the Canadian team.
“We support each other a lot, my sister and I […]. It’s the fun to be able to share this moment together”, underlines the triathlete.
The Montreal event of the World Triathlon Championship Series will be held Saturday and Sunday at the Grand Quay of the Port of Montreal. The event will be open to the public free of charge.