Athletics | “Reply” Charles Philibert Tiboutot
Before going to sleep on Friday in Boston, Charles Philibert Tibbutt received a small electric shock: his friend William Paulson broke his regional record in the 1500m during a meeting in California.
Posted at 7:00 am
“I kinda light the fire a little bit. I told myself I had to do a big job to fight back.”
The next day, the Quebec runner appeared on the starting line for the 5 km run of the Boston Athletic Association with a “knife between his teeth”. His goal: to win the contested race in preparation for the famous marathon presented on Monday.
Among the 10,000 novice players in this popular event, he noted the presence of some high-caliber opponents, including the Moroccan 6And 3000m In the last indoor worlds, Kenny just completed a half marathon in 60 minutes and a New Zealander won the 3000m at the Melrose Games. In short, “the people were good.”
As a matter of fact, Moroccan Zouhair Talbi and Kenyan Edward Cesarek, the former glory of the NCAA, split up “at the beginning of the race.” Philibert-Teputut realized that he had to act there.
My goal was only to win. I knew the Americans were a bit fools, and they wouldn’t go with them. I said to myself: If I want to win, I have to go. That’s what I did.
Charles Philibert Tiboutot
The Moroccan surrendered in the third kilometer, followed by the Kenyan one kilometer away. Quebec crossed the last kilometer alone against the wind, with a peloton on his heels. Carried by the crowd that had lined up at the final, he could barely resist. Ten or fifteen meters before breaking the tape saw the stopwatch. So he gave one last click before crossing the line.
His time: 13 minutes 35 seconds, or one second better than the Canadian record held by Paul Williams since 1986. Philibert-Thipute was the first to point out: This wasn’t the most impressive national mark. However, an unfavorable wind blew from start to finish and the path was not flat from start to finish.
“I didn’t really stop there. This race, I really wanted to win. After that time, it was like a bonus. But compared to other 5km road races around the world, the last time wasn’t great.”
Quebec rivalry?
In his first competition of the year, Philibert-Thiboutot wanted to celebrate the occasion. “I did my best training ever at altitude. I felt like I could be the best runner that day at the starting line. I wanted to show it to everyone.”
Paulson’s record, a Quebecer who grew up in Great Britain, increased his motivation tenfold.
“I am still in this sport to be able to compete at the highest level,” Philibert Thiboutout noted. I’m not here to sit on laurels. The fact that he broke my own record, it kind of gave me a little kick in the Boston race, and it also gives me one for the rest of the season in the 1500m. I don’t want to leave this record broken. »
Paulson’s performance sets the stage for a great duel in Quebec. “I’m really happy for him, but it’s also fun that there’s a rivalry like that all over Quebec. I don’t think that’s ever happened. It would have taken Bruni Soren to be his equal on his best days to compare a little bit with what’s going to happen between Will and me. This summer in the year 1500.”
After not being selected for the Tokyo Olympics, Philibert-Thiboutot passed the qualifying criterion for the world championships presented from mid-July in Eugene, Oregon, Paulson’s hometown. So Félix goalkeeper Antoine Lapointe approaches the season with great confidence after years of injuries.
However, the semi-final in Rio missed the entire indoor season due to a calf muscle tear in January. “It’s been five weeks without training, but at the same time, in the last year and a half, I already had a good momentum. It was not difficult to come back from this sadness. »
Philibert-Thiboutot will test his endurance again in the 5,000m on the track next month in California. The non-founder has never hidden his desire to expand his palette, which is a trend on the international circuit at the moment.
“Félix-Antoine and I think 5000 and 1500 are not at all opposites. So our goal is to be competitive at both distances in the coming years.”
In an ideal world, the 31-year-old would compete in the 1500m at the Worlds in Eugene and the 5000m at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where he would nonetheless have to achieve a “very ambitious” time.
“Qui toe! »
After being denied funding by Canadian Athletics last fall, did Philibert-Teputeut give a little thought to the union leaders when he set his record in Boston? “Every time an outcome like this happens, I think about it for a couple of seconds and say: quin toé! But I don’t want to use that as motivation because frankly, it’s negative energy. The runner continues his preparations at altitude in Flagstaff, Arizona, on the sidelines of the national team, which is training in Same place His situation does not give him access to on-site specialists The unfortunate situation of a man who is believed to have been injured in January due to discomfort in an untreated foot after the National Cross Country Championships, where he finished second in November He judged the cost of a plane ticket to Vancouver, Where the physiotherapist lives, that it was expensive, he preferred not to visit her.” The lack of support has repercussions. I’m ready to say I got hurt this winter because of it. Wanting to avoid the same mistake, he has been moving to Vancouver for the past two months and will return after his next competition on May 6.
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