Kilian Jornet, 2022 UTMB Champion, Interview

An interview with Kilian Jornet after his course record-setting win at the 2022 UTMB.
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For more on how the 2022 UTMB played out and for links to all our pre- and post-race interviews, head on over to our 2022 UTMB results article: i-rn.fr/22UTMB...

[@NeillyVille]

Finally, the interview we've all been waiting for! Thank you irunfar, your coverage of UTMB and all races have been second to none.

[@panterita1177]

I absolutely love and respect this man. He is so honest and for such a competitive athlete, he is very selfless. The way he talks about racing strategies and training, the way he treats his competitors, all of that shows what kind of person he is. I know people that are just regular runners and riders and they are so competitive and guard their “training secrets” and take the fun out of whatever events they do and hate others for doing better like if it was personal. And here you have Killian, the best athlete of our generation and a legend of the sport, being a real role model. It makes me want to be a better person above being a better athlete alone. He is teaching us that we can be competitive and kind and work hard but still have fun. Gracias Killian!!!

[@lukeetheridgepd]

Spot on

[@vuongers]

One of the greatest athletes of our generation. My friends outside of the trail running world can't understand how amazing his achievements truly are. A true contributor to growing the sport globally and an inspiration for the youth. Bravo once again Kilian!. My greatest memory is still when you won the HR100 with a dislocated shoulder and said 'its only an arm', don't need it. 😅

[@mickltlbjhbih3909]

He made an incredible performance at UTMB, but he was sailing so smoothly to the finish line it made me think he should realize is full potential and do a second lap 🤣

[@mickltlbjhbih3909]

Absolute inspiration btw killian 🙏. How can someone be so good and remain so humble and gracious while being 1 in 6 billion 👍. Your the man💓

[@AlbellaAudiovisual]

Truly inspiring. I remember that night I went to bed - I have to drive in the morning! - and my little son woke me up in the middle of the night, dad, I've had a nightmare, and after comforting him I took the tablet to check the race. Jim was still ahead, Mathieu catching up on Kilian, and I thought, wow, things are getting hard for him. In the distance, it seemed to me so dramatic, so epic, thinking about them running in the dark! This UTMB has been one of the most exciting sport events in my whole life.

[@mauriciobahia]

What I see is a great human being. So strong and kind! Thank you Kilian. ☯️

[@konstruktivismuskonstru9360]

Finally the GOAT! Hail to the trail running king!

Thank you IRF for the coverage and the pre & post interviews. Always very interesting to get the insights from the athletes before and after the race. Obviously Kilian's itw was widely awaited by many of us and as usual we are not disappointed. Such an authentic inspiring mountain adventurer and human being 🙌

[@stephaniedyck5708]

What INCREDIBLE talent and humility!

[@beeclimbing9954]

After multiple wins & course records in all the well known ultra trail races, a course record for a few years on the Bob Graham round, about the only thing I can think of that's a well known challenge for Kilian to go after is The Barkleys...With all his mountain experience, the navigation aspect shouldn't be a big issue for him and imagining what he might be able to do there is a little frightening ;-) I know Gary Robbins said he was no longer chasing that white whale, but Gary & Kilian teaming up on The Barkleys could be pretty amazing (since we know Kilian likes the social aspect of running and racing as much as he likes pushing boundaries).

[@gdrunnerboy]

Such a great champion and person!

[@justrione]

Serena , Killian, Matt, Courtney, Tia. Listening to them all

[@MsLouiseBrooke]

Wonderful questions! Thank you, for all of your descriptions of your process, Kilian! huge congratulations!

[@tekipaf]

Thanks for making the time Kilian

[@kuartin]

Thank you Irunfar for all your work, your coverage of races and your interviews which are always so pleasant to listen to! And congrats to Kilian, the goat, of course.

[@esgee3829]

Specifically in the last two years, in english-language video interviews, here and eslewhere, I've noticed Kilian's word choice has significantly broadened. And as an anglophone, observing him in his mid-30s, who struggles to not sound like a very small child in several other languages, this is heartening.

[@hostprods8059]

as well as being such an outstanding athlete its also apparent that kilian is an incredibly smart guy. as well as his rigorous studies of the history of running and mountain sports, training methodologies, nutrition and strategies, he is also fluent in spanish, catalan, french and english, is strong in italian, and is probably doing more than adequately in norwegian by now.

[@alanfortunysicart4919]

Thanks Brian, was checking almost daily for that interview!! Great work! Love that you go directly to great problems.

[@JFernandesSC]

Two great professionals that have my respect and references to study ultratrail running and some other things about life and attitude.

[@KrabiAdventure]

Great interview Bryon. Some well thought out Q's!

[@roustabout4fun]

I think I have seen this fine gent of a runner before~ I jest! Congrats!! and thanks to Hoka for being one of the sponsors. I would be curious how many used Mafate Speed 4 as the shoe of choice. Living legend and such a gentleman.

[@ברק-נ7ד]

such an amazing athlete, one of the gratest!!!!

[@PolPuigCollderram]

The best interview!!!

[@monikad5561]

Outstanding interview, Brian! Awesome questions!

[@romeoiipunzalan1079]

I hope he and francois come back to UTMB next year for that 5th win death match...

[@gusmoraless]

The switch from "stop fighting" to "fighting". The Holy Grail of trailrunning.

[@jillsy2815]

Hurray!!! Killian is the best and Bryon your interview was so spot-on all the questions digging into how he felt, what he thought all through the race. The term "gamesmanship" actually has a negative connotation and I wouldn't want it associated with Killian so I was glad when u said "strategies/tactics" because those are more accurate. It was awesome how you teased out so many interesting details in his life. I also wonder if "changing the switch from not fighting to fighting" during a race helps him do the same in his regular life. Questions about his little family and also what were he and Mathieu talking about in their much-published finish line pic. There are a zillion things to ask him so thank you for hitting so many of the highlights!! Fantastic interview!!!! ❤️

[@jessepratt6525]

So many nuggets ! Thanks IRF

[@today-nl]

Great talk!!!

[@LifeInTheLongRun]

He is human doubting himself but overcoming it and crushed his competitors is superhuman strength 💪

[@shawnat8799]

I swear this guy created a weakened version of covid. Superhuman.

[@alandyke6039]

Great interview! It’s interesting that people seem to have forgotten that KJ ran/won HardRock!! Surely this double has never been done??

[@emirovich_]

dream utmb next year: francois, kilian, matthew and jim, it would be the best race of the decade

[@obsidiantain]

Adam Peterman was crewing this year, clearly doing some scouting :) I’d add him to the list!

[@tpanagides]

Interesting. Not everybody is cut out for high intensity training since it largely depends on your unique physiology. It's reassuring to see that sometimes we have to listen to our bodies more than our coaches because there isn't a one size fits all when it comes to fitness. At least I find that true for myself and Kilian hints on that in this clip.

[@michaelbrauner]

Great interviews. I'm interested in his race pulse. Kilian said he recovered at 100 BPM. It would be interesting to know what pulse range it is in which he gets well through the entire run.

[@Mrtulli89]

Coros released the data from his utmb run with a really good breakdown of the stats as well

[@michaelbrauner]

@@Mrtulli89Can u give me a link ?

[@iRunFarMedia]

Julian’s heart rate data is also on Strava. - Bryon

[@edasy7200]

Finally. Woohoo!

[@martinc9096]

#legend

[@justinebello1022]

Excellent coverage as always, but feel compelled to point out that the men's champion got a 32-minute interview while the women's champion got a 9-minute interview. I'm sure there are other variables that contributed to this, and of course Kilian is the GOAT beyond compare, but would love to see IRF use it's microphone to spread the shine. Thanks.

[@iRunFarMedia]

Justine, Thanks for the comment. We have always and continue to be proud to present equal coverage of women and men in all iRunFar does. In general, we aim for 10-ish-minute pre-race and post-race interviews when we cover a race in person, and we prepare a list of questions and talking points equal in length for each athlete. However, at the end of the day, as you mention, there are many factors that go into an interview's length that are out of our control. How much time an athlete has to speak, how long the athletes' answers to questions are, if there's translation among multiple languages, and the local availability of high speed internet for uploading videos are a few influences on interview length. We interviewed the women's champion the Sunday morning after UTMB in Chamonix, at a time when she had lots of interviews/other responsibilities. If I remember correctly, we squeezed in an interview with her as she was waiting to appear live on UTMB TV. Pretty much all the Sunday morning after UTMB interviews we did were on the shorter side, as all the athletes were juggling lots of responsibilities. At least from iRunFar's perspective, we did the best we could interviewing the women's champion, as well as all the other Sunday morning interviews, amongst the chaos of it all. Thanks again for the comment, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to delivering high quality, equal coverage of women's and men's races. -Meghan

[@rossharvie7661]

26:22 😂😂😂

[@popopopo4981]

nah, to me zinal is just one of those outlier race where african really dig into running with vertical.. killian still beat his own zinal last year record, and at a covid status..💪💪💪💪

[@popopopo4981]

@@topperharley.478 i didnt said he didnt have it... he still is the winningest in zinal.. and at 5th place, he also break his own record time..

[@GeoffreyGonzales]

your loud interjections are hard to listen to example 11:10 there is a difference between talking with someone and talking at someone

[@CesarGonzalezRFMonk]

1 Travel to maintain low the carbon footprint _ what a legend

[@leocriscuola]

Gold

[@GlennGabrielMedia]

Goat'd

[@Antoine-sq2mm]

One question ? Were you vaxinated ?

[@quitethevoyeur]

No, I am really sorry. I don't think you should run a race when you test positive for Covid

[@barneygumble123]

Why do you think so?

[@Psyko327]

@@barneygumble123 Seriously, let's just all live in complete fear forever even though most people are vaccinated lol

[@quitethevoyeur]

@@barneygumble123 Because of the likelihood of infecting others

[@nightsyrkahcum]

@@quitethevoyeur For young athletes sitting on the couch is probably more dangerous than running alongside Kilian. And btw - not many actually run with him ;P