Isabelle Mouthon

INTRO: Isabelle Mouthon-Michellys, the French triathlete who starred at both long-course and Olympic-style racing, has "half-retired" from triathlon at age 34. But that doesn't mean she isn't still active in the sport that she and her twin sister, Béatrice, excelled at for so many years. (And Béatrice is still racing as a professional this year.)

Mouthon retired after her seventh-place finish in triathlon's Olympic debut in Sydney last year. Béatrice was there, too, finishing 35th. It was a departure from the sport that the teen-age swimming and running sensation had first been inspired to try by watching the Nice triathlon on television in 1984: "I was 18. I thought these people were crazy, but if they could do it, I must be able to do it, too," she said. So naturally her first goal was to complete Nice, a race she would later go on to win while taking the world long distance championship there last year. That's in addition to her many French national titles, another long-course world championship, a second-place finish at the Hawaii Ironman and many, many top 10-finishes in ITU races as she worked to make the Olympic team for France in the last few years.

Born in the French Alps town of Annecy into a large family (five brothers and sisters), Isabelle and Béatrice started racing at the same time. "We cannot tell you who started first," Isabelle said. "We both wanted to face new challenges; we were both fed up with lap swimming and track running, so triathlon was just perfect for us."

For their first race, they borrowed bikes from their father and one of their brothers. "We had no training for this 1.5/40/10 km 'Le Coq Sportif Circuit' triathlon in Annecy," Mouthon recalled. "We had lots of fun and some new and strange feelings—running after biking! But we enjoyed it."

Isabelle and Béatrice then attended university, Béatrice in Paris and Isabelle in Lyon, and had no real time to train except during summer breaks. Then Isabelle won the Nike/Triathlete Magazine trophy as the best junior and with it a trip to watch the Hawaii Ironman.

"It was a dream for me," she said. "I saw and talked to Mark Allen, Paula Newby-Fraser, Scott Tinley, Dave Scott. They were stars so high in the sky, so unreachable—I will never forget that first trip!"

She and Béatrice began training in earnest in 1990, in San Diego, after both had finished their studies. "We had planned to take one year off to enjoy traveling, training, racing. We did not expect this break would last so long—11 years!"

Mouthon said she's frequently asked in France why she always finished ahead of Béatrice during those years of competition. "I hate this question, as I don't know what to say. I tell them that Béa was born 20 minutes behind me, so she was behind me at her birth and did not recover the slight time lag!"

The reality, Mouthon said, is that they were both happy to see the other succeed—and their happiness hinged on each sister doing well.

"As an example, in my first win in the long distance world championship in 1994, despite my new title, I was upset: Béa crashed on her bike and could not finish the race," she said.

Mouthon now continues to work for the SNCF— Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais—the French Railway Society, a job she held half-time while training as an elite athlete. She works for them full-time now as a physiotherapist analyzing work accidents and illness in an effort to improve the workplace.

And she hardly headed for her couch after the big race in September.

Instead, she embarked on what some might call an even greater challenge—she joined a team bound for the Mild Seven Outdoor Quest adventure race in China last fall. The four-day stage race, covering 300 kilometers and showcasing seven different disciplines, was her first adventure race.

"It was the hardest challenge I have ever faced," Mouthon said. "The Ironman seems easy compared to what I endured because of my mistakes—the third day, as I was wet and cold for many hours, I didn't drink and eat enough. I finished completly dehydrated and hypoglycemic. Because of the high altitude, dehydration comes so fast."

On the last stage, Mouthon had not recovered but said she continued on for her teammates. "If I was on my own, I would have quit. When I came back home, for two weeks I could not do any sport activities," she said. "I was completely exhausted mentally!"

Her team, EADS Bo No. 2, finished on the podium in fifth place. Sister Béatrice raced too, on Team EADS Bo No. 1, finishing ninth. And Isabelle isn't ruling out another adventure race again, admitting that lots of invitations to race have come her way since the Mild Seven.

Those who saw Mouthon in the race when it was televised here in the U.S. may have noticed her positive attitude and ready smile in interviews conducted at the end of each arduous stage. She has a simple explanation for it: "I always consider myself as an amateur, racing for the fun of it, and for the pleasure of sharing intense moments," she said. "Winning is not important—the priority is to give the best I have, even if I finish far behind! The purpose is to do it for ourselves, not for the money, not for the glory—just because we are lucky to have a healthy body, to travel to exotic places and meet so many people."

We thought it would be fun to learn more about this engaging and enthusiastic practitioner of our sport.

SLOWTWITCH: Please tell us a little bit about your Olympic experience. You were able to compete with Béatrice and finished quite high in the standings, in seventh place.

ISABELLE MOUTHON: For me the Olympics were my last challenge in triathlon. I wanted to stop in 1996, but when triathlon became an Olympic sport, I decided to keep going for four more years. Now, I can say that I achieved every race I wanted to—I have no more dreams to realise in my sport. I've already received more titles and wins than I had ever thought about. Racing in the Olympic Games with Béa was the cherry on the cake! It would have been really sad and frustrating not to compete with Béa—as we started together, I wanted to finish together.

SLOWTWITCH:: Please tell us a little bit about the book you and Béatrice have written. ["Triathlon: From Begninner to Ironman", which appeared in French bookstores in March, covers everything from the basics of swim, bike and run training to nutrition, writing your own training plan and race tactics.]

ISABELLE MOUTHON: It is a book for everybody, a wholly accessible book—it's for beginners, as well as expert athletes. We are pleased to have Mark Allen and Paula Newby-Fraser as foreword writers and happy to make them practice their French. (They will receive the book soon in French!) The editor may prepare an English version if the French one is "a bestseller"!

SLOWTWITCH: What other plans do you have for this year? Will you be racing in any adventure races, or coaching anyone, or working in the sport?

ISABELLE MOUTHON: My plans are really eclectic:

First I need to take care of my garden, it's time to plant hortensia and azaleas;
I need to focus on my next half-marathon race at the end of April;
I also need to train for my goal as a triathlete (half-retiered). I want to compete in the Embrunman Ironman-distance triathlon on August 15. It will be an adventure race for me.
With Béa, we have just presented the Olympic triathlon course to the International Olympic Committee's evaluation committee for the Paris 2008 Olympics bid. We really want to defend this bid.
At home, my husband waited for me for 11 years. I was always far away, so now I want to take care of him and share our time together.

SLOWTWITCH: Do you have any advice for triathletes just starting in the sport as professionals?

ISABELLE MOUTHON: For professionals, just listen to your body and remember: Resting is a sports necessity. If you want to last, take some rest and breaks for your mind and body.

SLOWTWITCH: And what advice would you have for people who work at a regular job and train as age-group amateurs?

ISABELLE MOUTHON: Congratulations! How can you do so much? Keep going and don't forget: You train because you want to and not because you have to!

SLOWTWITCH: What was your proudest moment in triathlon?

ISABELLE MOUTHON: The most proudest moment in triathlon was my finish in second place in my (first) Hawaii Ironman in 1995. For any triathlete, it's a dream to race there. I did as well as I could, and my husband and my coach were there to share this tremendous race. Béa was racing, too, and we both achived our goal. Our dream came true—it was unforgettable!