Every French athlete will be looking to do well at the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships as it being held on home soil at the magnificent Omnisports de Paris Bercy arena from March 4-6 but none are more motivated than distance runner Noureddine Smail.
The 2007 European Athletics U23 Championships 5000m winner and 2009 SPAR Cross Country Championships under 23 gold medallist, who is now 23, made a good transition to the senior ranks this year by finishing fifth over 5000m at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona this summer.
In an interview with the French athletics federation web site www.athle.com, Smail talks about the summer just passed and also the year ahead.
You finished fifth in Barcelona. With hindsight, did this fulfil your ambitions?
Honestly, overall, yes. With all the injuries I suffered this season, I did not think I was going to do that well in Spain. It started with a small strain after running two back-to-back 5000m races in Rabat and Carquefou (on June 6 and 11). I wanted to continue training but I just aggravated my injury. At the final preparation camp (before Barcelona), I had more problems. In the end, I had to reduce my training for a week but once I was in Barcelona, I did not worry about it.
To be near the podium, despite all these physical problems, was that not a little frustrating?
With more work, the end result probably would have been different, that's what I talked about with my coach afterwards. I could not do as many fast sessions as I had hoped. At this level, you cannot get away with that. It would have been difficult to get on the podium but I probably would not have lost fourth place by one hundredth-of-a-second.
But no regrets?
No, it's all learning. There will be other opportunities. I know I will get there one day; I will get on the podium.
In July, you have also returned to the steeplechase (after not running it since 2007). What did you try that again?
It allows me to have another string to my bow. (He is seventh in the 2010 European rankings with 8:22:67 but the fourth fastest Frenchman this year.) In Gothenburg in August, I had a bad race. I went too fast at the start. However, earlier in the season at the Stade de France (at the Samsung Diamond League meeting in Paris), I stayed behind Vincent (Zouaoui-Dandrieux), a distance specialist, and I finished just one second behind him; that was satisfactory in view of the way I was going over the barriers.
In 2011, do you have to choose between the 5000m and the steeplechase?
It can be complementary. I want to do the steeplechase, even if I am more focussed on the 5000m. The idea is to acquire an endurance base that will allow me to run 1500m upwards. However, at the moment, I express myself better on the flat as I lack the steeplechase technique.
Do you feel you have joined the big boys now?
I’ve been the European under 23 champion at cross country and also 5000m. However, on some sessions this year, I could see that I had turned a corner. I competed with Mahiedine (European Athletics Championships 3000m steeplechase winner Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad) in training, particularly in Ifrane during the training camp organized by the French federation, so that was really good.
I’m at Insep (the French National Institute of Sport and Physical Education) and it’s a case of managing my schedules there as I’m doing a degree, with athletics as the speciality. I'll have to manage that in parallel with preparing for the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Bercy. I’ve never really had two such challenges like this. If I pull it off, I’ll have passed a new milestone in terms of maturity.
Will you compete at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships to be held on December 12 in Portugal?
I do not know yet. It can always be beneficial but my heart is set on doing big things at Bercy over either 1500m or 3000m, or both. I want to do better than I’ve ever run outdoors, indoors this winter and go under 3:40 for the 1500m (his current personal best is 3:42.40 outdoors). The European Athletics Indoor Championships are an opportunity for me to prove myself after Barcelona as I’ll be in the spotlight.