NAVARRO Nicolas

General
FROM AMATEUR TO OLYMPIC RUNNER
He began distance running relatively late in life, and said he never started the sport with the goal of competing at the highest level. "Before the Paris Marathon in 2019, I had never even thought about the Olympics. I was just trying to do my best, and sport was something I really only did for fun." But after finishing the 2019 Paris Marathon in 02:11.53s, he realised that he was less than 30 seconds off the Olympic standard. "I thought to myself, maybe I could do this [compete at the Olympic Games], I'm only 23 seconds off, and over 42 kilometres that isn't much." He began training with the aim of making the Olympic standard, which he achieved at the 2019 Valencia Marathon where he ran 02:10.01s. Thee months later, his selection for the Olympic Games in Tokyo was confirmed y the French Olympic Committee. "I wanted to do everything I could to make it to the Olympics and not have any regrets." (tokyo2020.org, 26 Nov 2020)

OCCUPATION
He works full-time as a bike and ski technician for a major French sports retailer. He takes unpaid leave in the lead-up to major events in order to concentrate on his training. "Ahead of a major event I take two months to focus on my goal and training, but it's not possible to do this for the entire year. It's good to have a job on the side and not to devote yourself entirely to just one thing." (tokyo2020.org, 26 Nov 2020; stadion-actu.fr, 26 Nov 2020)