Félix Lebrun in the semi-final of the Paris 2024 Olympics: “He has something extra, he was born a champion”, according to coach Nathanaël Molin

Comme l’Arena Sud Paris, Nathanaël Molin a exulté lors de la victoire de son protégé, jeudi. MAXPPP – LP/Olivier Arandel

The coach of the French team and the Lebrun brothers wanted to remember Félix's reaction, at the end of the quarter-final of the table tennis tournament, won against the Taiwanese Lin Yun-Ju, Thursday 1st & nbsp;August. The technician also insisted on the innate abilities of the 17-year-old Montpellier.

What were the key moments of this match?

After a while, I think that Felix felt so pushed that he started to force the game a bit. Where I tried to refocus him at the beginning of the beautiful, precisely, was by playing a little less hard. By playing a little more rotation on the first two or three points of the beautiful, that's what he did.

And then, he managed to score one or two crazy points. I particularly remember an extremely strong diagonal backhand at 3 or 4-0. From that point on, I felt that he had really taken the upper hand.

I gave him a little blow. I thought he had complained a little too much.

He managed to raise his level of play again. And then, what was really good, is that I gave him a little blow. I don't remember which set, but after a while, I found that he had complained a little too much. So, it's not really complaining, it's just having an attitude, blowing off steam when he misses a shot. Once, I'm fine with it, four times, no. He said “OK, fine” (laughs).

These are pretty crazy scenarios. As a coach, it must be a lot of emotions ?

Follow the ping more, you will see that there are many scenarios like that. Afterwards, with this emotion, not necessarily.

Félix is ​​again very solid during the deciding set. How do you explain it ?

We can't explain everything. What is certain is that he has something extra. I was explaining this a little to his brother (Alexis), yesterday (Wednesday). For me, there are two types of champions: the one who is born a champion and I think that Félix is ​​one of them. And the one who becomes one, it will be for Alexis.

How do you make Félix be carried by the crowd, but not carried away?

It's natural for him. We use a technique that is a bit “in-out”. I tell them to take the emotions. “You enter the room, smile, enjoy yourself, do what you want.” On the other hand, afterwards, you enter the playing area and you are able to reconnect directly.

Two years ago, I thought I would watch the Olympics on my couch (laughs). So I take it match by match.

You are in the semi-finals. Now, what is it ? Bonus ?

Two years ago, I thought I would watch the Olympics on my couch (laughs). So I take it match by match. We take this one.

But in any case, the medal is the consequence of a path. What is most important is the path. You have to enjoy it. Because if you only think about the medal, you enjoy it for 30 seconds on the podium. And after that, it's "out". The most important thing is the 300 days that we spend in the year. Then comes the consequence. That's what happens.