“Aiming for the highest peaks with Félix and Alexis”: the ambitious career plan of Nathanaël Molin, manager of the Lebrun brothers

“I take away from these Paris Games an extreme and simple happiness.” MAXPPP – LP/Olivier Arandel

The Paris Games changed their lives (1/5)… The Burgundian, adopted Montpellier, has been managing the young Hérault table tennis prodigies Alexis and Félix Lebrun for over three years. A role as a daily manager and coach in the French team that also put him in the spotlight during the Olympics.

Bronze medals at the Olympics in singles and doubles, title at the Euro for Alexis. Is the 2024 results beyond your expectations? ?

Beyond that, I don't know because we had very strong ambitions. That's what we want to continue to do in the years to come.

What struck me was Félix and Alexis' ability to ignore the pressure…

It's not an aspect we put a lot of emphasis on because it's in them. We focus a lot on the opponent, how we're going to use the environment to perform. The terms pressure are used a lot by the external environment but the reality is that it's inherent at the top level. If we are not able to answer that, we cannot consider a performance.

Read also:History, Félix Lebrun wins the WTT Champions at home in Montpellier, outclassing Harimoto

In which areas are they most improvable? ?

They can both expand their experience. Time will do its work, hoping to preserve this freshness of youth. For Félix, there will be a physical evolution. At 18, he is not an adult and his technique will evolve with it. For Alexis, it is in his experience of table tennis. He was injured a lot when he was young, with a cumulative three to four years of injuries. Félix is ​​three years younger but certainly has more hours of play than his brother. Alexis needs to experience things. For both, the goal is to keep the strengths of carelessness while gaining precision in the knowledge of themselves and their adversaries.

First big test this week in Singapore

There wasn't really a break for brothers Félix and Alexis Lebrun. The two Montpellier players took advantage of the winter break to work during training sessions scheduled in Germany in December, then in Saint-Raphaël at the beginning of the month.

The two Montpellier champions will undergo their first big test of the year this week on the other side of the world, at the Singapore Smash, a WTT circuit tournament, which begins on Thursday, January 30.

2024 European champion and 14th in the world, Alexis has a new status to defend and Félix will try to do at least as well as in 2024, when he reached the semi-finals. The two brothers will also be aligned in doubles.

Your close proximity to them creates a primordial connivance ?

What matters most is this human adventure that the father, Stéphane, launched by trusting me. I was there when they were little. I left Montpellier and came back three and a half years ago. I am the coach of the French team, but I am the manager of Félix and Alexis on a daily basis, a bit like the managers of football clubs in England. This includes career management, sponsors, relations with the press. I get help from the mother on these aspects but I am the guarantor of their entire career. I think that is what made things happen very quickly and that we experience them in an exceptional way. Around that we built this Lebrun team. Today it is a big machine but it must be hand-sewn to have a fine and precise expertise.

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Nathanaël Molin: “Félix will evolve physically and his technique with it.” MAXPPP – LP/Olivier Arandel

In 2024, their fame exploded to the point of being included in the 30 favorite personalities of the French. What does that change? ?

There are choices to be made, expertise to be had in areas where we are not trained. For example, we need a reinforced concrete accountant to manage this company. We are setting up a career plan that will allow us to aim for the highest peaks and for that we need to be supported in many sectors. It is clear that Alexis and Félix are experiencing something fantastic. A year and a half ago, we did not have a French sponsor and I was surprised. Today it has changed a lot…

Read also: How Alexis Lebrun, full of talent, had the spark to become European champion

You were also put in the spotlight by the Olympics. How did you experience that ?

The Games themselves were a great moment. In terms of notoriety, unlike Alexis and Félix, I can walk around without any problem. They get stopped on every street corner. That's not part of my sources of motivation. I just want to contribute to the performance of these boys. Through that, I fulfill myself in my emotions.

Did you feel chills on medal day ?

I'm not very good at it and that's perhaps what makes me strong. I don't allow myself those vibrations. When I'm coaching, I don't let myself be overwhelmed by what's going on around me. It might be nice to be happy and just live things but that's just the way it is.

Nathanaël Molin, here with Alexis Lebrun: “What binds us, what holds us, is the desire to seek great things.” MAXPPP – Thierry LARRET

Did Alexis and Félix feel the blues after the Games? ?

Not at all for now. We're still young in this, we're full of energy! And we play a lot and we can easily plan for the future.

What do you remember from these Games? ?

Extreme and simple happiness. Some pleasant images. Life lessons too. I will keep a more global memory of France's ability to organize this competition, in an exceptional popular fervor. I keep the image of the police who encouraged us like crazy when we passed through the village.

What are the objectives in 2025 ?

For this year 2025, the idea is to resume an objective of more in-depth progression. 2024 was a year strong in competition objectives with the Olympic Games and the Euro. In their career plan, we still need real development axes, to be articulated in the calendar where the two most important points of passage are the world championships in May in Qatar and then the European team championships in September, in Croatia. What binds us, what holds us, is the desire to go and seek great things, in extraordinary events. That's what makes us want to go back.

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