ROBERT Benjamin

General
REIGNITING HIS PASSION
In 2020 he began working with a new coach, Sebastien Gamel, and a new group of athletes including Djilali Bedrani, which he said had reignited his passion for running. "I was working with my first coach, Ali Belkacem, but for about a year things were stagnating, and the other athletes in his group were young so I was training alone, which wasn't great. I asked [Ali] if it would be better for me to join the group of Sebastien Gamel. So, Ali, myself and Sebastien all sat down together and talked it through. It was a natural transition, and everything was done respectfully. I still call Ali once a week. Mentally, everything has changed. When you talk with the others in Sebastien's group, the talk is about making finals and winning Olympic medals. It's another level. My training has evolved too - before it was about quantity, but now it's about quantity and quality. But also, my new coach allows us to go out and have fun, and that has brought me a lot of pleasure. Sebastien, psychologically, has helped me to rediscover my pleasure in athletics, which I had started to lose a little. And the dynamics of the group pull you higher." (athle.fr, 21 Aug 2020)

IMPRESSIVE DIAMOND LEAGUE DEBUT
He finished fourth in the 800m in his first Diamond League meeting, in Monaco in August 2020 where he set a personal best of 1:44.56. "I had spoken with Djilali Bedrani, who is in my training group, and he warned me that Diamond League was a different level and it would be a fast race. My goal was to get in the middle of the field and stay there as long as I could, so that's what I did. But then, with 500 metres to go, I thought the others would attack hard but they didn't, and I was feeling good. Then with 150 metres to go, I still felt good, so I thought I had nothing to lose and I went for it. I am happy because I finished strongly and set a new personal best, but I'm a bit disappointed for not taking more of a risk. However, it was my first race at this level. I'd never raced against the first, second, third and fourth-placed finishers from the world championships. These are guys I follow on social networks and watch on television, and all of a sudden I'm on the start line next to them, it was amazing." (athle.fr, 21 Aug 2020)