“There comes a time when you have to give way”: after the Olympics, projects… journalist Nelson Monfort opens up before his visit to Gard

“It's true that over the years, I have built a special bond with viewers.” Midi Libre – D.R.

The charismatic Nelson Monfort will participate on Tuesday, October 8, in a conference-debate organized by the Lions clubs of Nîmes Doyen and Saint-Hilaire-de-Brethmas.

Almost two months after the closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, one month after the Paralympics, how are you following these exceptional sporting moments ?

I am doing very well. It was such a privilege, an extraordinary moment to have been able to follow these Games at home. It is difficult to experience something stronger. There are many things that make it a rather unique moment.

You have, in sporting terms, an extremely rich career. But in what way have these Games "at home" been different for you ?

I think it's the same as for athletes. Participating in events “at home” is really much stronger than being in Tokyo or Beijing or Rio. For me, and I think I can speak for most of my colleagues, it's the same thing. It was a pressure, extremely positive. And in all modesty, even if I don't know in the end if it was me who brought them luck or they who brought me luck – accompanying these athletes, like Léon Marchand with his four gold medals, it was a very strong moment.

What moments do you remember from these Games ?

If we consider that athletics and swimming are the two king Olympic sports, swimming has given rise to great moments with Léon Marchand. And to a lesser extent, but it made me very happy for him, Maxime Grousset who finally won a medal, bronze, but really not far from silver… On a more general level, in athletics, the victory of the American sprinter Noah Lyles in the 100m touched me a lot, because he is a boy whose career and journey I have followed from the beginning. It's a great revenge on life.

During these Olympics, you were in the living room, the office of millions of French people, accompanying the victories and the disappointments. Are you aware of that??

I especially don't want people to take this for pretension, which would not be like me at all, but it's true that I have woven, over the years, a special bond with the viewers. There was someone who said something very nice to me one day, it was “the whole of France calls you by your first name”. I hadn't realized that, but there is some truth in it and it touches me a lot.

How do you prepare for a global event ? We can't imagine that you'd come empty-handed…

I like this expression, of course you don't come empty-handed, I'm interested in the careers of my future interlocutors. Whether it's for French or international champions. But I do it more out of passion than obligation.

Do you end up building relationships with certain athletes? You realize that they know who you are.

This is true for French athletes, it is necessarily true, by force of circumstances for internationals. But whether it is for swimming or athletics, in the morning, you have the series. Moreover, at the Stade de France, you already had 70,000 people in the morning, which has never happened. And I was among these 70,000 people, even if it was not broadcast. Except that the runners you see in the morning are the ones you will see in the evening. And there, they have a very clear capacity to remember that such and such a person was there in the morning and to give them a certain priority. I have always done this because it is a form of respect for my interlocutors. And, in any case, I do it very willingly because I am passionate about it, whether we are on air or not.

Do you never feel tired of your job ?

How can one feel weariness at the Olympic Games, especially at home ? If I felt any, I would have stopped a long time ago! Then, whether in tennis, skating, athletics, there is a renewal of great generations, which prevents any weariness. And often, I found as a consultant, I found as a consultant athletes that I had worked alongside, like Stéphane Diagana for athletics or Philippe Candeloro for skating. It's very touching.

You have also created a memorable commentator duo with Philippe Candeloro. Will we see you together again??

In life, some doors open and others close, and that's probably what's going to happen for me this fall. And that's fine. It's by mutual agreement. I'm not saying I've covered everything, because I feel very enthusiastic, but there comes a time when you have to give up some of your space. I'll still be on special operations, major events, but in a slightly different way. And I really have a certain serenity about that. Even if, when the Roland-Garros tennis tournament opens next year, there will be a little pang in my heart. But that's normal, that's life.

Exactly, what will this “after” represent for you, at the end of a very rich career ?

Already, everything fascinates me: arts, literature, music, sculpture, painting, etc. I have a literary activity, I have already published a few books, even out of respect for writers, I consider myself more of an author. I made a vacation workbook called A summer of sport with Nelson Monfort. I think I will renew it next year. And I have the book Olympic Memories, published by Robert-Laffont, which I will certainly update with Jeux de Paris for a release by the end of the year (1).

You accepted the invitation from the Lions Clubs Nîmes Doyen and Saint-Hilaire-de-Brethmas to host a conference-debate on the Olympic Games in Nîmes on Tuesday, October 8. You have a certain affinity with our region, if only by mentioning the Trophée de la femme, a tennis competition that took place in Cap-d'Agde and where you made your interviewing debut.

How can you not love this region? The Gard, the Hérault… the whole south that goes from Montpellier to Pézenas via Nîmes. And it turns out that my very first television report, which I consider my lucky charm because it all started there, was in a tournament that no longer exists today, the Women's Trophy, in Cap-d'Agde, which brought together the four best players in the world.

I also have a love for Georges-Brassens. And I launched a show a few years ago with a Sète native who is a saxophonist, Fred Karato, with whom we did a tour-show tribute to Georges-Brassens, which was called Les copains d'abord. And we are going to renew it in 2025 (2). I am a storyteller-singer, there are 7 or 8 musicians in a slightly jazzy style. And for the record, just before the health crisis, we played at the Théâtre de la Mer in Sète, which is not just any place, on the occasion of the Saint-Louis Festival.

If you had to extract two or three memorable memories from your career, what would they be ?

I remember Martina Navratilova at this Women's Trophy, who never hid her sexual orientation, which I find really admirable especially given the time, and who confided in me in a post-tennis match interview her desire to have a child. That's when I said to myself that it was possible to go beyond “what did you feel when you were at 15-30, two all” in the first set. That taught me a lot. Of course, supporting exceptional tennis careers, like that of Rafael Nadal, 14 victories at Roland-Garros and, each time, the first person he spoke to, because protocol required it, was me. By force of circumstance, there were bonds that were formed. And then I also supported the careers of Carl Lewis, Usain Bolt.

Isn't it hard to see these great athletes “hang up” ?

The hardest part is there, for them first and foremost. When you hang up your boots or whatever, there is a kind of little death with a light that suddenly goes out. And it's true that you have to have a strong heart to endure that. And it goes beyond the track record or anything else, everyone is practically in the same boat. It's true that I have often spoken at seminars or conferences on the reconversion of athletes, because it's not just professional, it's also almost spiritual. It's very intimate. Sometimes we will criticize by saying “he had one match or one fight too many”, but I will never come across people like that. When we were first, even if we come fourth, we remain competitive. There is this desire, perhaps, not to be forgotten. Even if that won't happen to Rafael Nadal. But there aren't only Nadals. I saw a former French football goalkeeper, who had two or three selections, picking up balls from a golf practice range. But who am I to judge that ? I prefer to have sympathy and empathy in the face of all this.

Thinking about the aftermath for an athlete can sometimes be difficult when you know that what counts is the performance of the moment.

Few think about the aftermath. I have sometimes worked in clubs like Auxerre or Metz, and I have realized exactly that: athletes live in the present moment, which they want to prolong as much as possible, to the detriment of the aftermath which, sometimes, can even frighten them.

What will you be discussing during this conference-debate on October 8th?

The timing is pretty good, just after the Olympics. I am someone who is rather enthusiastic, cheerful, positive, that's all I want to convey.

(1) At the beginning of September, it was also announced that Nelson Monfort would be joining Michel Drucker's team of columnists on the show “Vivement dimanche” on France 3. He will perform every 15 days starting in early October.

(2) The 2025-2026 national music tour with Fred Karato will have the theme “Brassens en fête”.

(3) Conference-debate on Tuesday, October 8, at the CGR in Nîmes (avenue de la Méditerranée), from 7 p.m. Price: 20 euros (45 euros with the cocktail dinner). Information and reservations, at 06 08 76 92 53 or 06 84 16 13 60.

I subscribe to read more