Florencia Borelli, the Argentine queen of the marathon: how she approaches being an Olympian in Paris 2024

Argentine athletics is experiencing one of the best moments in its history. The best, for many. And one of the main people responsible for this great gift is Florence Borrelli. The woman from Mar del Plata, established as one of the best middle and long distance marathon runners nationally and continentally, lived an extraordinary 2022 and with that momentum she started 2023 with everything. A lover of challenges, she started the new season in a different way, because she had her absolute debut in indoor competitions with excellent results. Although she already plans a year of lots of outdoor action, with the Pan American Games in Santiago as the main focus and the Olympic event of Paris 2024 as the final destination.

“It is inevitable not to think of Paris -recognized in a conversation with clarion-. I feel a little closer to qualifying than the Tokyo Games, more in the marathon. I’d like to qualify and arrive at that test with an excellent mark.”

Borelli aims with all of himself to run the 42.195 kilometers of the French event. For this, although he had secured a place in the 10,000 meters for the Pan American Games, for having won that event in the Odesur of hypothesis 2022in the Chilean capital he will compete in the toughest and most difficult event in athletics.

“The song always tempts me, but there’s that famous line that says: ‘Not everything is possible’“, he laughed.

“This year I will be racing on the track until October (Editor’s note: Even if he will say he was present in Vicente López’s 10 kilometers on 12 March). In May I have the Grand Prix and the national team. From June to August, we will go to Europe to compete outdoors, hoping to qualify for the budapest world cup. And then we will focus on the Pan American Games marathon. I want to lower my mark and have fun, to get to Paris very well,” she warned.

The woman from Mar del Plata holds the best national mark over that distance, with the 2h26m54 she achieved just over twelve months ago in Sevilleat the beginning of a 2022 in which he got tired of celebrating unprecedented goals.

In April, she became the first South American to run the 3,000m in under 9 minutes when she clocked 8:59.10 in Mar del Plata. In May she was crowned in the Half Marathon of Ibero-American from La Nucía, Spain. In June, in Manchester, he conquers the bronze in the 5,000m with 15’23’83, a new national record. In late July she finished second in the Memphis 3,000m and improved on her Argentine and South American records, with 8m53s89. And in August she finished seventh in the 21 km of Buenos Aires and she was crowned Argentine and South American champion over that distance with a time of 1h09m31, a new national and continental record.

This year it has continued on a roll. At the end of January, gold was in the 1,500 in meetings Internacional de Valencia, in the first indoor race of his career, with 4m17s94s and setting a new Argentine record, which he broke days later Phaedra Moon sambran (4m12s95). And in February she achieved her best record in the 3 thousand indoors in Val-de-Reuil, France with 8m58s59, and bettered the 8m59s61 he set a week earlier in Lyon.

“It’s always good to compete and not to mention improving personal marks or Argentine and South American records. Even if it’s also a double-edged sword, because when you don’t reach it you’re not satisfied. But those are the rules. I’m quite demanding of myself and this pushes me to keep working. I understand that sometimes you can and sometimes you can’t, because the body is not a machine, but I’m constantly trying to lower my times,” he reflected.

-Does it add pressure to be a benchmark in your sport?

-Pressure to be a reference, no, thank God. I think the only thing that puts pressure on me when it comes to running is leaving my son for so long, because I feel I have to. It’s always hard to stop, but Milo is already big (born in 2015), understands everything and practically kicks me out of the house when I have to go to a race (laughs). And that makes everything easier. I think that in my case, at least, whether or not the body responds during the competition has nothing to do with emotion, because as a runner I am quite cold. So I’ve never felt pressured in that sense. Yes, I like that they see me as a reference, even if I don’t think I’m an example of anything. But if they see me as an example to motivate themselves to exercise and lead a healthy life, great. And I like being the bridge to the next generations. Sometimes in South America it’s a bit more difficult to compete and reach those levels, but we have a lot of talent.

-What are the reasons for your explosion in the last few seasons?

-Maybe it was an accumulation of experience. Sometimes you get ready to run at certain times of the year, you can’t make it and you need another season. Maybe this has built up a bit for me and I blew up last year. And in addition to training and nutrition, there is a lot of mental work that I have implemented lately. Most success comes from training hard, but I also put a lot of emphasis on my head, my mindset, and that strengthened me a lot.

-There aren’t many athletes who can go from a 3,000-meter run to a marathon in a matter of weeks or months, and get great results. Why can you do this?

-Maybe because since I was a girl, my coach (Leonardo Malgor) made me participate in all the tests. I like running, even if there are tests that I like more than others. Also, I really love challenges. So I adjust and perform well. I have no problems. If we have to run, we will run any distance.

-If you had to choose a distance, would you choose the marathon?

-The 3k and the marathon are my favorites, even if they are very different. The 3,000 is explosive and since I was a little girl I have always done well over that distance. And the marathon, since I ran it in Buenos Aires in 2021 (Editor’s note: He won in what was only his second participation over about 42.195 kilometers), seemed like a terrible physical challenge. I love it. This year I want to make another quantum leap in that test. That’s what we’re looking for.

“We hope that Argentine athletics can add medals to Santiago”

Florencia Borelli is the great figure of the immense present that Argentine athletics lives, but she’s not the only one.

Last year, in the Ibero-American where the woman from Mar del Plata was gold in the half marathon, ten other medals were added: the gold of Bethlehem cottage in 3 thousand with obstacles; the silvers of Phaedra Moon (5 thousand), Diana Ocampo AND Antonio Poblete (half marathon) e Jose Zabala (1,500); and the bronzes of Frank Florio (100), elian larregina (400, with national record), Julian Molina (5,000 and 3,000 with obstacles) e German Clairvoy (pole vault).

Is in the South American Games in Asuncion nine golds were collected (in addition to that of Borelli in 10 thousand; those of Florio in 100, Larregina in 400, Federico Bruno in the 1,500 and 5,000m, Chiaraviglio in the pole vault, Luna in the 1,500 and 5,000m and Casetta in the 3,000m hurdles), four silvers (Bruno deGenaro in the 400 hurdles, Florence Lamboglia in 100, Mariana Borrelli in 1,500 and Ocampo in 10,000) and two bronzes (Nazarene Sasia in bullet and Joaquin Gomez in the hammer), so much so that Argentina finished second in the medal table of that sport, behind Brazil.

“Today in Argentina we have many good long-distance runners, like my sister Mariana, Daiana and Fedra. And we face it. I am proud of the athletes at the national level. We always aim for more and this is positive”, Borelli analyzed.

“There are also guys like Florio and Larregina who are super talented. And it’s fantastic, because in Argentina speed has always been more difficult. We’ve always been more cross-country skiers than sprinters,” he added.

Looking for a reason for this beautiful moment, the woman from Mar del Plata assured: “It’s a bit the accompaniment of the ENARD, which motivates a lot, because it allows you to do camps and workouts, outside of something that wasn’t possible before. Obviously it is a consequence of the results achieved, but that’s okay. And I think a little more is due to the competition that is generated between the athletes. We are all very even and that means you never stop training hard, because the other is nowhere near your grades. And so you keep getting better. I always say that the more uniform everyone’s level is, the more growth there is.”

-How do you see the Argentine national team facing Santiago 2023?

-Very good. In last year’s Odesur it was shown that the team is strong. Let’s hope the same thing happens in Santiago, even if we know that the level at the Pan American Games is different. Argentine athletics is going through one of the best moments in its history. I hope I can collect medals. We all go for that goal. ​