Paris 2024: “Boss of the Blues, an honor”, for Romain Barras, director of high performance
The Montpellier is now on February 1 the new director of high performance of French athletics. Quite a challenge.
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- Born on August 1, 1980 in Calais (41 years old).
- Decathlete from 2002 to 2016.
- French Elite Decathlon Champion 2005 and 2011.
- European decathlon champion in 2010 in Barcelona with 8,453 points.
- Participated in the Olympic Games 2004 (Athens, 13th) and 2008 (Beijing).
- Fifth in the decathlon of the Beijing Olympics, he won a place after the downgrading of a doped athlete.
- Since February 1, he has been the new director of high performance for French athletics.
- He lives in Montpellier.
French athletics, on the verge of a nervous breakdown in recent months, is now in battle order. With a new national technical director (DTN), Patrick Ranvier, and above all a high performance director, Romain Barras (41), who is unanimous.
The Montpellier, former European decathlon champion, is ready to take up the challenge less than three years from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
That’s it, are you the boss?
The boss… I am at the head of the France team indeed, I take on responsibilities. What is important is the formalization of my appointment.
Until then, the athletes said they were a little lost. Renaud Lavillenie had even spoken of a mess…
Renaud got a little carried away. There was an identification problem with the departure of Florian Rousseau (former director of high performance who left after the Tokyo Games, editor’s note) and the absence of DTN (Patrick Ranvier was appointed in December 2021, editor’s note).
But internally, it continued to work. I acted as interim Florian for four months. It allowed me selfishly to take the measure of the position. At the same time, the teams did not stop answering all the questions asked.
However, in the absence of DTN, certain decisions have remained pending. From there to say that it worked in slow motion, no. Everything was working.
Why such a discrepancy with athletes?
Reading the press, they had the impression that it was a disaster. It may have scared some people.
What is your job exactly?
Director of high performance is to be the boss of the Blues. I am responsible for building a tight team, choosing our best athletes to succeed in Paris 2024 and restructuring access to high performance to prepare for 2028 and 2032. All this in collaboration with the new DTN.
Patrick Ranvier is my line manager but he leaves me full responsibility for the France team. This is the foot model. Today, Didier Deschamps, on letting him work.
Will you be the one to decide on the selection?
No, at the FFA, there is a selection committee. I will not make any decision alone. I don’t pretend to know everything. We move forward and we integrate strategies with debates, sometimes contradictory exchanges.
What will become of Mehdi Baala and Laurence Bily who formed the high performance cell with you (since 2019)?
The National Sports Agency (ANS) has established a number of guidelines to be followed. She wants a high performance director who will have to take on the athletics record at the Olympics. We must therefore set up a commando strategy. Two and a half years from Paris 2024, I’m not going to revolutionize anything.
We know the forces involved. We must be able to optimize things, make marginal gains, so that a 4th place becomes a bronze medal. As a high performance director, I am directly in charge of the high performance circle, of the medal-winning athletes. With many people around me.
What will be your priorities in the coming weeks?
As prestigious as the position is, it involves a lot of work and self-sacrifice. There are many construction sites. We will operate in the short, medium and long terms. The short term is the championships of the year. With the Indoor Worlds and especially the World and European Championships this summer.
The Worlds in Eugène (United States), we will go with a tight, seasoned French team, with athletes capable of aiming for a place in the top 12. At “Europe” in Munich, it will be time to expand access to the French team with athletes who will be able to discover their first championship. This will be the first step towards Paris 2024.
Are you going to stay in Montpellier?
My life is in Montpellier. But my work will lead me to move a lot. In Paris of course at the headquarters of the federation, for the meetings. I also have the will to go regularly to the training sites of the athletes.
That’s also my job. Be in contact, accompany, find solutions, listen to these athletes who will aim for great performance in the years to come.
What does an athlete need most to do his job well?
He must feel the confidence of his federation when his project is completed. Have the serenity to carry it out.
It goes through support. It’s not just financial. It goes through people, taking news, feeling that what we put in place is followed. Conversely, when you are an athlete, you have to know how to listen to those who have reservations about your project.
To have it evaluated. When you have your head to the grindstone, you can be too focused on what you’re doing, being convinced that it’s the right solution. The opinion of someone outside is important. You have to be able to say to an athlete: “Be careful !”
What is your credo?
It is that of Olivier Lecat, the boss of open water swimming. High performance is kindness without complacency. You have to know how to say things, sometimes know how to say no, enlighten, guide with your experience. The athlete must be able to hear all of this.
It’s a hell of a bet. How do you introduce yourself?
I am very honored. It is a very prestigious position. Being the boss of the Blues during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is something. With great power comes great responsibility. I’m not going to be the one running, not even training. I will be at the service of those who will perform.
I have enormous respect for all top athletes because I know what it takes in terms of life choices. I am here to support them as best I can. I know the difficulty of working as a team, of building a tight-knit team with cohesion, mutual aid between managers…
French athletics is a lot of chapels that have trouble opening up to each other… Doesn’t that scare you a little?
Nothing scares me. it works like that. Good. The goal is to open up the possibility of discussions. To succeed in taking into account the opinion of others. We are in an environment where everyone has an ego. Beliefs should not get in the way of listening to others. This is what we will try to put in place.
I am not against someone who has strong convictions. But he must be able to hear others to evaluate, reflect, question himself. On a whole to gain. There are great skills in France, currents of thought that are sometimes opposed, find it difficult to work together. It will be our job to restore dialogue and cohesion.
What athletics in the world is the example to follow?
There is really something to take in all the federations. We are far from being the most unhappy. We’re not the best off either. I am for fairness. This is the meaning of my first decisions. We try to set up criteria, rules. They must be respected. There will be no privileges. We will try to operate less with wet fingers.
When we make decisions, we will have to be able to justify them with things that will be written, negotiated upstream. When you are an athlete, you experience injustice very badly. I don’t want to create any. On the other hand, athletes have a duty to set an example. They have rights but also duties. It is an honor to wear the jersey of the France team. It should not be forgotten. It must make you shiver. The athlete is nothing without the France team. It will always last after him.