Mathis Zouma Track Session
Early morning, long shadows, repetition.
- Location
- Nice, FR
- Date
- 2025
- Type
- Athlete Portrait
The Story
5am at the track. No crowd, no commentary — just a sprinter and the sound of spikes on rubber. This portrait follows Mathis Zouma through a full training session in Nice: the warm-up, the work, and the long silence between sets when you can see exactly what it costs.
The Athlete
Mathis is a sprinter who trains like a sprinter — everything in bursts, nothing wasted. There's very little conversation on a track at that hour. You learn to read the body instead: the way the shoulders drop before a good run, the pace of breathing between efforts. The camera has to earn its place.
The Session
We were there from the first warm-up lap to the last rep. Long shadows, cold track, the sun coming over the stands too slowly. Some of the best frames came in the recovery moments — the ones that show what the race is built on.
“The race is ninety metres. The preparation is everything else.”