Can we say that Léo Baeten, in whom no one believed in his beginnings, was not destined to become a high level skater? Certainly, but it was without counting on the pugnacity and determination of this young Belgian athlete who will participate, with Olivia Shilling, his American partner, in the Ice Dance World Championships in Saitama, Japan from March 20 to 26.
Born in Hoeilaart, near Brussels in September 2000, Léo Baeten was a young boy, rather focused on football, until September 2015 when he decided to put on ice skates. « I loved it straight away, even though I wasn’t very talented, because basically I’m a rather raw person, the complete opposite of skating, which requires delicacy and elegance. » smiles the one who does not hesitate to take three hours by bus every week to get to Louvain, the nearest ice rink.
« At 16, I had to change clubs because no one wanted to train me »
Léo therefore joins the Die Swaene Heist club, near Mechelen, where Annelies Van Houdt will be the first to believe in him.
The day after his majority, following a successful test, Léo left his native Belgium to settle in France and join the Club des Sports de Glace de Lyon.
(Photo: Léo Baeten in his debut, Lyon, France)
In August 2019, head to Russia and its capital, Moscow. “My dream was to go skating there because Russia is a reference in the discipline, I learned a lot there. « . The young athlete will live an incredible but terribly complicated experience. Nothing stops Leo who manages to reach the United States during the pandemic in order to continue his development. A short period in Miami, Florida before returning to Lyon in May 2021. He joined Lyon Glace Patinage, where he met Geoffrey Brissaud, one of the current big names in French skating.
“I worked a lot, because in dance and in art I was really starting from zero”
(Photo: Geoffrey Brissaud, Léo Baeten and Rémi Laâsri, Lyon, France)
It was in October, in Nice, that Léo Baeten was going to show off his skates in competition for the first time, but once again, nothing went as planned. “We finished last after crashing, and in the process my partner dropped me. « . It was then that his friend, Geoffrey Brissaud, advised him to get in touch with his personal mental trainer, Rémi Laasri, in order to allow him to move forward and put an end to this period of doubt and bad luck which had too much hard.
In April 2022, return to the United States, this time in Novi, in the suburbs of Detroit. He finds a partner with whom an alchemy is finally created. Unfortunately, she gets injured and is forced to stop skating. It was written that nothing would be easy, but this time the fate is very clearly on him.
« I experienced Nice as a real trauma »
“The mental part is the one that we had to unlock first. Getting out of this spiral turned out to be very complicated, but the work on the ice and the work done with Rémi ended up paying off. » confides Léo, who, with his new American partner Olivia Shilling, returned to competition last January. A big meeting, a year and a half after his first competition, at the Bavarian Open in Oberstdorf in Germany. Their good performance allows the couple to qualify for the 2024 European Championships which will take place in Budapest, Hungary. “After this competition, I understood that I could fight against other people, rather than against myself. « . This performance will not remain without a future, since a week later, in Italy, Olivia and Léo obtain the minimums, a very good 6th place and qualify for the World Championships in Japan. Since happiness never comes alone, they join the Belgian national team at the same time.
“He had 1000 times the opportunity to stop everything, but he held on”
“Léo never gave up, he always continued despite his various disappointments. underlines Rémi Laâsri, extremely proud and happy with the work accomplished, especially with the resulting results. But beware, there is no question of resting on his laurels for those who train four to seven hours a day, five to six times a week, while balancing their studies in natural sciences and the environment.
“It is an honor to represent my country. »
Now all eyes are on the land of the rising sun, where Olivia and Léo hope to put on a good performance to honor the colors of Belgium, which has not taken part in a World Championship in this event for 25 years.
Words from Rémi Laâsri, his mental coach :
“If only one had to believe it, it would be him. And he always believed that he would achieve this goal. We had fixed it much later so as not to burn out the stages. But it was only an estimate and Leo is impressive. How to imagine that he would qualify for Europe from the second competition of his career and for the World Championships from the third?
Regarding support, among other things, I had to know his deep motivations. What will bring the necessary energy, to work more and better, in order to catch up with 10 years of skating on its competitors?
Will this energy be able to help us achieve the first level of the objectives, that of redoing a competition after the trauma experienced in Nice?
A lot of organizational work then took place, for the head and the planning. It was essential to modify the perceptions of Nice and to release the blockages, while working on the ice so as not to fall behind.
Leo is a very good example for all those who dream of achieving great things. He chose a direction and CONTINUED. Everyone knows what happens when we quit, but where does continuation take us? “
Article co-écrit avec Fabien Reveret, Rédacteur Sportif.
” Je suis rédacteur sportif pour un journal régional du Groupe Centre France. J’écris également des articles pour vos sites web ! “
Contact : fabredacsport@gmail.com
