Maëlle Beauvir: ... towards the 2026 World Championships

Chapter 1: Change and decision-making

2024 marked an important turning point in my career as a top-level sportswoman.

I decided to listen more to myself, to follow my desires and to reconnect with my deepest motivations. This change not only concerned my identity as an athlete, but also my identity as a person without sport. I took the time to go back to the drawing board: to think about what really drives me, to write down my thoughts and understand what motivates me on a daily basis.

I spent a long time asking myself what really drove me to pursue high-level sport, to understand my intrinsic motivation. Why did I get up every morning to train? Why did I stick to this rigor day after day? It wasn't just about the results or the victories. What really fascinates me about top-level sport is the journey, the process. It's a bit like creating a business project, with its stages, its adjustments and its culmination. So I put together a team of people I could trust to support me and drew up a detailed plan, dividing the path into different work phases. This plan included technical, physical and mental objectives, with particular attention paid to the evolution of these "small steps" which, each time, made it possible to define or adjust the next ones.

This approach has become my new source of motivation, one that allows me to move forward with clarity and confidence towards my ultimate goal: the 2026 World Championships in Italy.

I also accepted where I was at the end of 2023, and understood that to achieve my ambitions, I had to set myself goals that were both ambitious and achievable.

So I redefined my objectives, not for one year, but for two. The experience of the last few years had shown me that deadlines that were too short brought me more stress than satisfaction, and I didn't have enough time to build properly.

This process of reflection was supported by concrete tools. I started writing regularly, a practice that helped me clarify my thoughts and better understand my priorities. I integrated a technical coach and a psychologist (no longer a mental coach), while continuing to work with my physical trainer, with whom we stepped up the work this winter. In particular, we increased the number of threshold sessions and double intensity sessions per day, to improve my endurance and my ability to maintain a level of effort over long periods.

The winter was also marked by training courses more focused on physical development, while maintaining some orienteering-specific training. I tried out a high-altitude course at Font-Romeu, which added an extra dimension to my preparation, improving my ability to adapt and my resistance to effort.

In addition, I made the decision to significantly reduce my travel. This allowed me to devote more time to daily training, by seeking out local training opportunities. I've also opted for longer, more structured training courses, rather than multiple short stays, to maximize the effectiveness of each training period.

All these changes in my training have not been without adaptations, difficulties and uncertainties. But I believed in it, and I believe in it because I feel much more involved in my project than in the past. Some of the choices I've made may deviate from the classic path, but they're in line with my vision and personal needs.

The goal?

This season has undoubtedly been the most successful of my career, but also the most exhausting. There were moments when everything finally seemed to be taking shape, then others when it all fell apart. I went through incredible highs and lows that made me doubt everything. It was sometimes hard to keep believing in myself and in the path I had chosen. But when I look back on it all, I realize just how much these ordeals have shaped me. How did I manage to hold on, to move forward when everything was becoming blurred? That's where things really came together... and I'll tell you about that in the next chapter.

In the meantime, I wish you all a wonderful back-to-school season and thank you again for accompanying me on this journey 😊