Individual speed world champion in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines last year, sprinter Mathilde Gros puts her rainbow jersey back on the line at the Track Cycling World Championships held from August 3 to 9 in Glasgow, a big rehearsal one year before the Paris Olympics.
You arrive at these Worlds with a title in individual speed. Is that extra pressure for you?
“No because I don’t see it as a title to defend. I think every year it’s a renewal. In 2022, I won it but for me, everything is reset. Girls who weren’t there in Paris will surely be present in Glasgow. For me, this jersey I will have it all my life, this title I will have it all my life. So he is not to be defended, he is to be picked up like last year. We start from scratch. We are going back to the fight and we are going to get this jersey”.
What did you focus your preparation on?
“I focused my preparation on the mental side. The championships take place over seven days, and the speed tournament over three days instead of two. It takes much longer to manage mentally. There are two nights between the start and the end and the matches are less linked. It will be hard nervously, mentally, and it is the one who will be the most relaxed who will go the farthest. There will also be a lot of media pressure because it is qualifying for the Games, so I will really try to detach myself from all that and live this championship without negative pressure.
For all the nations, these World Championships will look like a great rehearsal of the Olympic events which will take place in the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome. Is it important to make an impression one year from the Games?
“I saw it at the Berlin World Championships in 2020: the podium had nothing to do with that of Tokyo in 2021. There are those who try to make an impression every time. That’s not my goal at all. Let’s imagine that I win, that does not mean that I will be Olympic champion in Paris. It has nothing to do, it’s not the same race. The objective for me is rather to take bearings because when we will arrive at the Games we will all have the slab. It really will be life and death. So the objective on these worlds is to go as far as possible in the tournaments and to concentrate on me and only on me”.
Comments collected during a press briefing
