Paris Olympics 2024: Pierre Le Corre and Alexia Bially, live my life as a triathlete together

Alexia Bailly et Pierre Le Corre arpentent les routes du pourtour montpelliérain pour s'entraîner. JAMES MITCHELL

Le mercredi 31 juillet, Pierre Le Corre dispute l'épreuve olympique de triathlon. Son professionalisme, le Montpelliérain le partage au quotidien avec sa compagne Alexia Bailly, elle aussi triathlète professionnelle. Des modes de vie commun, décisifs dans la quête de la performance.

Opposites attract. Birds of a feather flock together. When you're a top triathlete, you tend to lean towards cliché number 2. Life rhythms, nutrition, training, sacrifices… It's in the couple's interest to be on the same wavelength. Pierre Le Corre (34 years old) and Alexia Bially (31 years old) are well placed to know this.

The first, who has been living in Montpellier for 17 years, will compete in his second Olympic Games this summer after Rio in 2016. The second has been a professional triathlete since 2020, a fan of long-distance events (1.9 km swimming, 90 km cycling, 21 km running), which are more demanding than the Olympic format (1.5 km, 40 km, 10 km). These two have shared their daily lives for over twelve years. A daily life in which passion and will are stronger than anything. Either way, there's no choice.

“It's definitely easier to accept the other person's life choices when you do the same thing. Then when one of you is feeling down, the other one motivates him. And vice versa. In two years, we've taken two weeks of vacation,”, Alexia admits. The life of a world-class triathlete belongs to a very specific caste. The one where you have to be a little crazy around the edges to keep up with the best.

Three to four training sessions per day

You only have to take a look at the daily schedule of the Bially-Le Corre couple to understand. Wake up at 6:15 a.m., have a little snack. 7 a.m., in the water, for a one to two hour session. Then, a big breakfast. The best time of the day. “It's 9:30-10 a.m. This moment is one of the reasons why I get up in the morning”, Alexia smiles. At 2 p.m., we go for a bike ride. And we end the day with a run. “For Pierre, it depends. Sometimes he goes running at noon, goes for a ride in the afternoon, and does another running session in the evening", Alexia notes. And that, six days a week! Everyone has their own specific sessions but "we try to do the same work in the same place". Enough to be tired just reading this program.

But that's the price of performance. "Oh, it's true that sometimes, in the middle of winter, it's hard to get up. Especially since we've been doing this for fifteen years. We have a bit of a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. A little movie or restaurant session, you almost regret it!", laughs the resident of the Les Sables Vendée Triathlon club.

We're putting together a team to go and support Pierre in Paris, between family, partners and friends

I promise, the pleasure is still there. He shares it between two, already. But also with their training group, built around Pierre's project, with coaches specialized in each discipline, embodied by Bertrand Billard, long-distance triathlon world champion. All of this forms an association, created two years ago and managed in part by the duo. The mission has been clear for some time: do everything possible to bring Le Corre to the top.

In recent months, Alexia Bailly has had to find another way to keep busy, the fault of a capricious Achilles tendon. And to relieve "Pierrot" of some responsibilities. "At the moment, there is a big administration part to manage. We are not professional enough, so we have to take care of sponsors, communication, equipment suppliers, and pay the coaches via the association. His mom helps out, too. It’s a bit thankless but everyone is super excited. We are putting together a team to support Pierre in Paris, between family, partners and friends", says "Alex". The slogan is perfect: "Pierre at the Olympics". "The Le Corre turn promises to be hot", assures one of his colleagues on the networks. < /p>

Pierrot owes this accomplishment to his considerable work. But also his entourage, led by Alex.

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