The 200-metre champion who prefers a nice long sleep

Myriam Soumaré (pictured) was 18 when she first tried running, comparatively old in the world of athletics. And even after winning a gold medal for the 200 metres on Sunday, running is still not her passion in life.

By FRANCE 24 (text)

When Myriam Soumaré leaves the running track, she likes to leave the world of athletics far behind her.

Even her 100 metre bronze medal in the 2008 European Championships did not convince her that athletics was to be the core focus of her life.

“In all honesty I didn’t really like it when I started at 18,” she said after running the 200 metres in 22.32 seconds at the Barcelona championships on Saturday, the third fastest speed recorded this year.

“Today it all went well, but I wouldn’t say it is really a passion of mine. Maybe it will never really be a passion. But I like what I have done.”

Soumaré, a Muslim, is careful to take off her headscarf when she races “in order not to impose my religion on others”, according to her trainer Olivier Darnal.

Darnal spotted the young sprinters potential six years ago. He said the 23-year-old part-time paediatric nurse “had never done any sport” when she turned up to a training session, aged 18, where he was coaching her older sister Aminata.

Natural talent

Darnal said he was thunderstruck when he saw her run for the first time: “Myriam was much, much faster than any of the other girls that I was training.

“But she wasn’t all that interested in putting in the time, but over the years she has become a little more committed to running.

“She is a detached, generous and lively person … Detached meaning when she leaves the stadium, she doesn’t think about athletics any more.”

Soumaré is, however, a prolific sleeper, averaging 12 hours a night, and takes an afternoon nap after getting home from work.

She lives with her parents, who are of Mauritian origin, and her four siblings, in Villiers-le-Bel, one of the French capital’s notorious northern suburbs and the scene of intense anti-police rioting in 2007.