Swiss Review 1/2019

Swiss Review / January 2019 / No.1 10 Sport STÉPHANE HERZOG Born into amiddle-class family in Ge- neva, Julien Wanders discovered a passion for competition early on in life. “I always wanted to be good, whether it was at tennis, football or athletics,” he explains over the phone from the small Kenyan town of Iten, where he has been training for four years. During his adolescence, as his sporting performance improved, Wanders decided to dedicate himself to running, a discipline he considered to be ‘easy’. “What struck me about him was that at just 15 years old, he had such a clear and ambitious out- look. He wanted to go to the top of his sport and you could tell he was seri- ous about it,” recalls his coach, Marco Jäger. After eight years of working to- gether, Jäger considersWanders to be practically part of his family. Julien Wanders first stepped into the media limelight on 14 October 2018 when he broke the European 10km road record previously set in 1984.With a time of 27.32minutes, the 22-year-old Swiss athlete finished sec- ond in the race behindUganda’sworld 10,000m silver medallist, Joshua Cheptegei, whose running was a source of inspiration. “I could try to beat him in a few years,” says the Ge- nevan long-distance runner. But for Wanders, experience is crucial; he knows that “there is no point in get- ting ahead of yourself”. The choice of simple surroundings Records aside, Julien Wanders has at- tracted attention with his original and ascetic approach to running. It has brought him to Iten at 2,400m above sea level, the Africanmecca for runners and an ideal location where he can trainwith and against the run- ners from East Africa who monopo- liseworld records. Themove to Kenya has also allowed Wanders to live in simple surroundings, and thereby fo- cus on his work. “We come to enjoy the basic things in life here. For exam- ple, I really appreciate it when I have electricity and water! It encourages me to train because you only really learn to fight when you are in a diffi- cult situation. Some Kenyans who have become millionaires through their success in competitions still de- cide to come back to the village to re- connect with this simple way of life because a luxurious lifestyle just does not work for a runner.” The town of Iten attracts hun- dreds of runners fromboth Africa and the West. Although Marco Jäger ad- mits to a certain concern for the less beneficial aspects of this sporting ha- ven, such as the quality of care in the event of injury and the country’s po- litical instability, he still sees it as the perfect environment for running. “The runners are always at a high alti- tude. The climate is comfortable, with temperatures ranging between 15 and 25 degrees and a rainy season, but never any snow. Julien is always sur- rounded by a group of professional Kenyan runners for whom running equates to economic survival,” ex- plains the Swiss trainer. Jäger follows Wanders’ progress through telephone conversations and videos that the ath- lete sends to him, with which he can analyse his stride. Running to survive JulienWanders has created a little co- coon for himself in Iten. It is simple but conducive to performance. He shares his life with his Kenyan girl- friend and runs with other athletes, some of whom have become friends. JulienWanders: an African running style for a world record performance After his European record-breaking 10 kilometre run in Durban at the end of 2018, Julien Wanders entered the ranks of the world’s top long-distance runners. Originally from Geneva, the young athlete now lives and trains in Kenya, a country famed for its runners. A portrait of an exceptionally modest sportsman.