An emotional Wilhem Belocian after breaking the world junior 110m hurdles record at the IAAF World Junior Championships, Oregon 2014 (© Getty Images)
World junior 110m hurdles champion and junior record holder Wilhem Belocian talks to Ato Boldon for the latest episode of IAAF Inside Athletics.
Renaud Lavillenie wasn’t the only record breaking Frenchman in 2014. By clocking a 12.99 to win the 110m hurdles at last year’s World Junior Championships in Eugene, Wilhem Belocian became the fastest under-20 in the history of his event.
He was happy. Not just because he had run so incredibly fast, but also because his mission had been accomplished.
“When I crossed the line I was very emotional looking at the clock and reading 13.00,” the 19-year-old tells Ato Boldon.
“Then it was rounded down to 12.99 and that in fact was our objective: to break the 13 seconds, and we were extremely happy.”
Gold in Eugene came on top of the world junior bronze he had won in Barcelona two years earlier in 13.29. It was in the Catalonian capital that he first set himself the target of winning gold at Hayward Field.
“In 2012 I was the little one,” the Frenchman recalls.
“It was good to be there because I got a lot of experience from that defeat. I told myself: ‘OK, in 2014 I will be the world champion, it will be in Eugene and I will be the world champion’.”
And so it transpired, but not before Belocian claimed gold in the 2013 European Junior Championships. The Guadeloupe-born protégé – who has also won a raft of CARIFTA Games medals at youth and junior levels – has already added to his medal cabinet this season with 60mh bronze at the senior indoor European champs in Prague.
Looking to the future, Belocian – who says it is his dream “to see a French team full of athletes from Guadeloupe” – has set himself even more targets.
“First and foremost it’s about enjoying it,” he adds. “Of course we have set ourselves a series of targets. We will see if we get there or not. If it doesn’t happen quick, it will happen with time.”
Watch the full seven-minute episode below, where Belocian also talks about his childhood heroes, becoming a celebrity in France and why he doesn’t like football.