Competitive Engagement Among Young Long-Distance Runners Aged 17 to 29: Becoming a Role Model Champion

This article seeks to analyze the extent to which the absence of a role model in coastal walking—an emerging activity developed by the French Hiking Federation (FFR)—encourages young people to participate in this sport, which is predominantly practiced by people over the age of 60. A qualitative analysis based on semi-structured interviews (n=5) with young participants from diverse backgrounds and life trajectories revealed that, for all the young people interviewed, traditional factors such as parental influence—as well as, more unexpectedly, health-related motivations—are the primary reasons for their involvement in this type of activity. In hindsight, the desire to become a “champion role model” becomes the driving force for thriving in this sport.

Several studies highlight the influence of parents on athletes’ competitive careers and on the development of a “sporting vocation” (Dale Huisner & Frensh, 1994; Coté, 1999; Durand-Bush & Salmela, 2002). In their work on the elite sports environment, Forté and Mennesson (2012) suggest that athletes tend to take up the same sport as their parents, highlighting the role of socialization and family influence in the choice of a sports career. Thus, children’s involvement in a sports club is often, initially, driven by their parents. Children often travel with their parents, which allows them to watch their parents participate in sports or attend sporting events together. This is likely to spark children’s curiosity about sports clubs (Le Pogam, 1979; Delbecque, 1979; Louveau, 1980).

Although cultural and social contexts may influence participation in sports, sports for young people extend beyond the family environment. Alderman (1978) and Alderman and Wood (1976), as well as Lafabregue (2001), show that athletic success is one of the key factors determining whether a young person continues in a sport or gives it up. According to Lemonnier (2013), this athletic success is often marked by young athletes’ identification with champions. Many young people take to the track and field, soccer fields, and podiums because they identify with their champions, whom they view as role models and a source of athletic excellence. “These adolescents become deeply immersed in the world of sports—both in what they read and in their conversations—living vicariously through the champion’s life” (Ibid., 2013, p. 93).

Moreover, the athletic role model is often crowned with a podium finish (champion), accompanied by admiration and a demeanor that charms fans, because a champion only becomes a role model for others once the public cheers him on, identifies with him, and sees themselves in him. “Thanks to the mass media and the sports press, the cult of the champion has become a veritable industry” (Brohm, 1995, p. 112).

But what about emerging sports? Indeed, studies focusing on the development of a sporting vocation do not provide a clear picture of how young people’s competitive involvement takes shape in emerging activities such as longe côte—a sport invented in 2004, practiced mainly by seniors, and which does not yet serve as a benchmark in the sporting world. Furthermore, the standards for athletic success in this activity appear to differ from those found in traditionally established sports. All of this leads us to ask the following questions: How can we explain why young people engage in competition in the absence of prominent “long-distance walking” champions? How are standards for athletic success defined in a sport that lacks role models? How do young coastal walkers manage to identify with a role model? Will they create that role model? How would this role model differ from those already existing in traditional sports?
In this article, we will attempt to explore these questions, highlighting the reasons why young people participate in coastal walking competitions.

Coastal Walking: Origins and Prospects

Longe côte, a sport that involves walking in the sea with water up to the chest—with or without a paddle—made its debut on the coast of Dunkirk in 2005 thanks to rowing coach Thomas Wallyn. He believed this activity would help relieve his athletes, who were undergoing intensive training and suffering from muscular imbalances. He considers longe côte to be a complementary, low-impact sport since it is practiced in the water.

This activity quickly became a huge success; more and more people outside the rowing community are taking up longe côte. The association “Les Sentiers Bleus,” founded in 2009, aimed to help establish consistency in the development strategies of clubs offering longe côte. This initial push for development led in 2012 to an agreement with the French Hiking Federation (FFR), which wished to take charge of the activity. Since 2013, the Ministry of Sports has officially entrusted the management and development of the sport to the FFR. Thus, by definition, longe côte is a form of aquatic hiking, hence its other name, “aquatic walking.” The^FFR2 guide states: “This is a walking activity […], and, in principle, it falls under the discipline of hiking.”

According to a survey by the FFR (Venot, 2015), the activity—which is intended primarily for elite athletes as a complementary practice—has gained significant popularity. As of 2019, there were more than 11,000 longline walkers across 120 clubs in France. The activity is geared more toward health and wellness, with a predominantly older participant base, largely due to its affiliation with the FFR. Indeed, according to Burlot and Lefèvre (2009), more than half of the participants fall into the “senior” category: 46% of those aged 50–64 and 52% of those aged 65 and older. Thus, the hiking community likely influences the profile of longe côte participants. A survey conducted among 600 longe côte practitioners in the Hérault department in 2019 shows an overwhelming majority in the senior age group: 68% are over 60 years old and 92% are over 50. Sixty percent of them discovered the activity through their hiking club (Ricciardi & Le Roux, 2019, p. 24).

On the other hand, this activity is not widely practiced by young people. The estimated average age of current members in clubs affiliated with the FFR is 60 (FFR, 2015). This explains the desire among various stakeholders in the longe côte community to promote the sport among young people, with the goal of expanding the activity and attracting new audiences. In this regard, during our internship in 2019*, we observed that the majority of young people we met were concentrated primarily in two clubs**. The emergence of young people in these clubs is intrinsically linked to the rise of a competitive approach. Indeed, since the establishment of the French championship dedicated to this sport in 2015, an age group ranging from 17 to 29 has emerged in this field across two categories: Junior (ages 16–19) and Senior (ages 20–39). The number of participants has been increasing modestly since the first national championship was held; 15 young people took part in the 5th French Longe Côte Championship in 2019***. This trend is also evident internationally, as a delegation of young French longe côteurs participated in the Mediterranean Beach Games in Patras, Greece, in August 2019. This suggests that there is a link between young people’s involvement in longe côte and the competitive aspect of the sport.

Commitment and Athletic Success

As we have already noted, involvement in sports does not depend solely on the family context; it is influenced by other factors. Lafabergue explains that “Sports-related dispositions are developed through the interactions that young people establish with others” (Ibid., 2001, p. 81). He adds: “The longevity of a passion for sports depends on each individual’s ability, within the club, to satisfy their desire for self-affirmation and social recognition through two distinct relational dynamics: that of athletic success through performance and that of personal fulfillment through camaraderie” (Ibid.).

It is therefore possible to consider that commitment to and involvement in a sport are linked to “non-family” considerations such as athletic success. Moreover, athletic success often manifests itself through pushing one’s limits and achieving great performances. According to Lemonnier, it is the champion who embodies athletic success. “Perceived as embodying iconic qualities, the champion becomes the benchmark for all athletic success” (2013, p. 91). Moreover, it is widely acknowledged that the elite athlete represents the athletic model—in this case, the champion—because he or she epitomizes performance and pushing one’s limits. “Elite athletes seek to attain the perfect theoretical model […], the supreme image embodying the perfect performance” (Brohm, 1995, p. 215). Thus , the athletic model is produced through an interaction between the elite athlete and the system in which they operate, known as “the elite pathway” (Brohm, 1995). Consequently, the athlete’s progression through this system fosters the adoption of sporting standards of excellence by constructing the image of a champion, which then becomes the sporting norm.

Beyond building a career in sports, commitment to elite-level competition requires a “highly demanding” investment (Forté & Mennesson, 2012). For the athlete and those around them, the demands are enormous: daily training sessions, balancing academic studies, being away from family, injuries, poor performances, travel, and enduring repeated competitions, among other things. The dream of standing on the podium and becoming a champion requires years of preparation and training. As Champignoux (1992) observes: “You must triumph through pain”—this could be the motto that governs high-level athletic competition. “Winning easily” makes the athlete feel “guilty” because they do not feel the pain and imagine they have not pushed themselves to their absolute limit. They must push themselves to what might be called a “limit state,” which they must display for the audience, especially since this mindset helps them find meaning in the suffering they endure to prevail. When they say, “I’m pushing myself to the limit,” they are actually expressing the pleasure they feel in seeking out more suffering in order to improve” (Champignoux, 1992, p. 109).

On the other hand, the nature of longe côte means that even a casual participant can become a French champion. This was demonstrated by Yoann Coedel (35), the 2017 French champion in the senior category. In fact, during an exploratory interview, Yoann Coedel explained to me that he had no background as a professional athlete or in elite sports: “Actually, I’m here by chance!” Longe côte has given him the status of a champion, which is “very rewarding” ****.

Furthermore, this sport does not yet have the deep-rooted traditions found in soccer or swimming, for example… There are no prominent elite athletes representing it, nor are there any renowned coastal walking coaches. It therefore appears that there is not yet a champion to look up to in coastal walking, and that success in the sport depends on standards different from those found in other sports.

With this in mind, this article seeks to analyze the extent to which the very absence of a “champion role model” in this sport is likely to influence young people’s participation in competition. One might hypothesize that young people will participate, in part, in the hope of becoming that “champion role model” themselves.

Fieldwork and Survey

The survey focused on young long-distance runners throughout France and was conducted in 2019. Our sample was selected based on several criteria: age, gender, and level of participation.

To analyze the reasons behind these young people’s involvement in beach walking, we conducted five semi-structured interviews with young beach walkers. Two additional interviews were conducted with two young elite athletes in swimming and catamaran sailing. The analysis of these last two interviews primarily provided points of comparison with coastal walking, given that these disciplines have a long competitive tradition with universally recognized role models: Michael Phelps in swimming, and Billy Besson and Marie Riou in catamaran sailing.

The interview guide was organized around four themes: prior athletic experience, attitude toward longe côte, attitude toward competition, and the champion model.

The interviews were conducted between April and June 2019. Although they were very informative, the number of people interviewed remains fairly small. Out of several thousand long-distance runners across France, there are in fact only a handful of young people, all of whom belong to two clubs located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. This made it difficult to conduct some of the interviews. Distance and remoteness became the main constraints in selecting the long-distance runners.

In fact, during my first-year master’s internship, I had the opportunity to meet various stakeholders in the “longe côte” community during a trip to the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. During that trip, I had the chance to conduct two interviews with young people from the Alison Wave club. The meeting was not scheduled in advance. Two other interviews were conducted via Skype due to the geographical distance. The two interviewees live in Brittany and the Hauts-de-France region, respectively, which made it difficult to meet in person. The rest of the interviews all took place in Montpellier.

Generally speaking, the use of virtual interviews via Skype is becoming increasingly common in sociological research. According to Anne-Sophie and Baptiste , “The development of the Internet since the 1990s and its rapid integration into the daily lives of many individuals and social spaces make this tool indispensable for conducting a great many social science studies, regardless of the research topic ” (Anne-Sophie & Baptiste, 2012). Thus, it seems to us that this tool does not pose an obstacle to conducting interviews under the most favorable conditions.

Although the number of interviews was limited, they allowed us to gather a great deal of information. In order to analyze this information effectively, we used a categorical analysis. “Through categorization, we obtain a practical method for processing raw data” (Negura, 2006, p. 11).

Analysis of Access to Longe Work

In all the cases studied, the young longeurs started out with other sports before turning to longe côte. Analysis of the interviews revealed that their participation in sports prior to longe côte was more or less irregular. Only one person remained committed to their sport for 12 years. A total of three people changed or stopped their main sport due to health issues. For example, Liza states:

“[…], I stopped doing judo, and I had surgery […]. As for my knee […]—that’s why I took up longe côte.” “ “[…], actually, I had back problems, and since I stopped playing rugby […], I didn’t have those pains when I started longe côte.”

People were also introduced to longe côte in various ways; in fact, three people were directly influenced by their family members (mother, grandfather, sister, brother). Jeff tells us:

“At the very beginning, it was Grandpa who did the coastal walk; he went on to become the club president. […]. He’d tell me, ‘You just have to give it a try —it’s a promising sport,” and that’s how I got into it, little by little—here I am!”

Most of the respondents’ parents are champions themselves. In total, three parents are involved in longe côte (mother, grandfather), and the fourth person’s mother is also a swimming champion. Remarkably, the fifth person cites his mother’s illness as a source of motivation and the fact that she was able to cope with it “thanks to longe côte.” Adrien:

“[…], my mother was my inspiration, but it was because of her story—her past in sports and her journey to overcome illness…".

Health-related reasons thus repeatedly emerge as factors influencing the choice of this activity. Three people reported that health issues had altered their athletic paths, leading them to take up coastal walking. Interestingly, health reasons also influenced their parents’ decision to take up the same activity. Of the five interviews, three young people confirm that their parents (mother, grandfather) chose coastal walking for health reasons. It thus appears that the decision to take up coastal walking is primarily driven by the onset of a medical condition. But why do these young people participate in competitions, and what do they gain from it?

From long-distance runner to champion in no time

Young longeurs have a particularly unique relationship with competition. In fact, what first caught our attention was the observation that, of the five people interviewed, four are already French champions even though they only began practicing longe côte in 2015. It would seem that this aspect is a key factor for the rest of our analysis. Even more intriguing is that all four champion longeurs state that their first appearance in the French championship resulted in a first-place finish. Blandine says : “[…] because that year [2015] I became the French champion.” Similarly, Jeff recounts :

"Yes, exactly—two-time champion in my very first competition—yes!”

In fact, most of the young people we met are indeed the first champions in the history of longe côte in their respective categories. Blandine confirms this :

"Ouch, but it's true at nationwide, I’m the only one Yes!”

Based on the data we gathered from interviews with the two young elite athletes—one in swimming and one in catamaran sailing—we can conclude that competitive involvement in other sports requires such a high level of commitment (meticulous planning) that it has led them to isolate themselves from the outside world. For example, Sandra stated:

“[…], I don’t go out, I don’t know anyone […] Before, all I had to think about was swimming, school, swimming—nothing but practice.”

The same goes for Nadal :

“[…], in the […] program, there are a lot of sacrifices […], in fact, you have very few friends, and in the sailing community, you don’t really parties …”.

On the other hand, taking up coastal running requires neither a “highly demanding” commitment nor years of sustained effort, which may encourage participants to enter competitions. Tristan and Blandine state :

“We couldn’t train at all before the French Championships—we couldn’t train at all […]. That afternoon, we won the 1,000-meter race (laughs), so it really was a huge surprise! I checked the results four times—ah, it’s official! We’re in first place.”

"In the end, we were competing in the French championship, but we were going to entirely by chance; we weren’t prepared.”

So, we distinguish between two approaches to competition: the traditional competitive approach, which requires a “highly demanding” commitment—one in which participation becomes almost a calling, a lifestyle that necessitates meticulous organization of every aspect of the athlete’s life. In contrast, for long-distance swimmers, competing—and even becoming a champion—does not, for the time being, entail the same level of commitment.

Toward the Development of the Length Model

There is unanimous agreement that there is no single role model. However, what is evident in the respondents’ answers is that, in hindsight, they talk about the people who inspire them without specifically mentioning a particular athlete. Take André, for example:

"Well, personally, I won't hide it from you—I personally, no one—there’s no one. Maybe my mom—just my mom—who inspires me, but that’s because of her story, her past with sports, overcoming her illness—that’s all that.”

Tristan and Blandine approach the subject in a fairly similar way, given that it is constantly evolving:

“[…], the Longe Côte is a fairly new event; we don’t have a model to follow because we don’t world championships yet; there aren’t any Olympic events or global stars in the sport yet—that’s the situation…”

Since they view coastal hiking as a new activity, the respondents agree that there is no “ideal” hiker. Liza even mentions this with a hint of sarcasm, saying that it’s too early to talk about it :

"No, not at all—in the 'longe côte,' it's not (laughs)—on the contrary, it’s a sport that’s constantly evolving.”

The long-distance runners we interviewed said that to become a role model, one must achieve international recognition by winning races—a goal pursued by most of our interviewees. As Tristan put it:

"A model... hmm, well, if I can make something on the international stage!”

Adrien says along the same lines:

"My goal is crystal clear: it will be included in the Olympic Games! So, for now, it’s part of the Mediterranean Beach Games taking place in Patras, and ideally, it will become an Olympic sport."

As for Tristan, he thinks that:

"The ultimate goal is to make it to the Olympics. If one day I see coastal walking in the Olympics and the courses are still the same... hmm, I was the one who started it all!"

This lack of role models could be the driving force behind young people's continued participation in coastal running; this is implied in their comments:

Jeff tells us :

"[...] At the next Mediterranean Games, I think I'll be 22, and maybe I'll be able to win a title. […] With the growth of longe côte, I could build a career, […] become the French champion in the senior division and in several other categories.”

Blandine expresses her desire to become a role model:

“Ouch, finally a role model—ouch—but let’s just say there are people who look up to me! […] I’d love to be recognized as a top athlete in this sport. […] But I want to inspire other people like me through example—people who are afraid to try other sports because of their bodies just the way they are, who tell themselves, ‘Ouch, but in this sport, we can do it.”

For Adrien, the desire to be the model champion is more obvious:

“When I first started competing in longe côte, I told you it was good for me because it allowed me to say, ‘Look, I set the best time’—it’s really rewarding. […], I won the Tunisian championship in one event, and I finished as champion on the podium in every event. So I was very proud of myself and kept put my all into it.”

For Liza, the absence of a model serves as motivation to develop her practice

"Yes, I can't wait to see it develop; I can't wait for it to really reach a high level [...]"

Furthermore, the fact that most of them have been champions multiple times fuels their desire to go even further. Blandine puts it this way:

"Well, of course, as time goes on, we'll start setting goals—you know, once we knew we were going to keep getting relatively good podium finishes, we wanted, like any athlete, to go to the .”

In summary, based on the results of this study, we can identify three dimensions that characterize the commitment of young long-distance runners: Their entry into the sport was primarily driven by identifying with parents who participated in the same activity, as well as by health issues. Competitive commitment, on the other hand, does not require a great deal of investment. The lack of role models in the sport has meant that their commitment extends beyond athletic success—such as winning a championship—to a desire to become a role model in the sport themselves.

In the following paragraphs, we will attempt to highlight these findings by drawing on existing knowledge in this area.

Discussion on a New Champion Profile

It would appear that parental influence plays a crucial role in the choice of sport. This is supported by the work of Bourdieu (1979, 1980) and Pociello (1981), which demonstrates the importance of social environment and background in influencing individuals’ choice of sports. We can also cite the finding by Baxter-Jones and Maffulli (2003) that parents play the role of both introducers and supporters.

Similarly, in competitive sports, the parent-athlete relationship plays a key role in an athlete’s career, according to the work of Durand-Bush & Salmela (2002) and Benchehida (2018). Furthermore, it turns out that some respondents are deliberately committed to the sport. According to Lafabregue (2001), commitment is determined by events both within and outside the sports environment that can lead athletes to change their athletic trajectories. We can therefore assume that commitment to coastal walking relies heavily on physical conditions and is reinforced by the involvement of parents who participate in the same activity.

As already mentioned, most of the young people surveyed are indeed champions in longe côte, but not only that—they position themselves as pioneering champions in this sport. In other words, there were no champions before them—no one with whom they could identify—as Brohm (1992) explains:“The champion is the best; he is the absolute benchmark (…) he is the role model to emulate; he is the sporting vanguard.” (Ibid., 1992, p. 341).

We can therefore say that the competitive involvement of young long-distance runners, marked by their status as champions, coincides with this lack of a champion role model in long-distance running. According to Bandura (1965), the role model is a source of information; it is already pre-established (either a real or symbolic model). This model enables one to achieve a goal or construct a representation of the goal (Winnykammen, 1982, p. 25). At this stage, we can consider that young pioneering champions are in the process of constructing an identificatory model, since no such model currently exists. If we apply the same premise to athletic success, we could say that athletic success and the champion are part of an interactive process through which athletic success produces a model and is realized through it. Thus, the athlete participates in the construction of athletic norms defined by the institution to which they belong by serving as a benchmark champion. We can therefore conclude that the champion is a construct conceived by the athlete with the aim of building a sports model that embodies athletic success by serving as a role model for others. At the same time, the athlete might develop new standards—“going beyond the model”—to create a new one. “The producer is his own product.”

(Morain, 1990, p. 100). It is therefore possible to consider that the athlete, following the example of the champion, constructs a role model with whom to identify. In other words, the decision to pursue a sports career is largely driven by identification with a role model embodied by “the champion.” Returning to what Bandura (1965) discusses, we are indeed witnessing a process of role model construction in coastal hiking.

On the other hand, according to Lemonnier (2013), competition symbolizes the idea that all performance must and will be improved, and that champions have a special relationship with pain and time that is strongly aligned with the proposed capitalist model (Ibid., 2013, p. 94). This competitive logic—balancing strain and suffering to win—is shared and accepted by athletes, in this case by our two athletes (the swimmer and the sailor): “It’s through pain that you make progress”(Nadal). The sports system, through the establishment of the elite sports pathway—a symbol of athletic excellence—is based on the production of an elite. The champion is one who dedicates themselves body and soul; they must be high-performing and infallible. This is how the model embodying the champion is constructed. One might therefore think that the champion, by internalizing the standards set by the system or institution, develops by following the model and then embodies it. However, coastal walking defies this logic. According to Rouanet, “Sport allows us to develop our sensory awareness, thereby enabling us to push the body’s limits a little further” (2013, p. 135). Young longeurs are more likely to embrace this logic, which appears sufficient to achieve a victory experienced as a very positive experience, even though it is rejected by all elite athletes: “Winning easily makes you feel guilty” (Champignoux, 1992).

However, in the case of longe côte, the respondents do not view competitive participation as a burden. In fact, for most of them, longe côte is evolving rapidly compared to other sports that are firmly rooted in the traditional sports system. In some cases, there is even a complete lack of preparation. It would seem that longe côte diverges from the traditional parameters of the “champion” model. It offers young people a new model of a champion. We are therefore witnessing a form of sporting success that is not restrictive. The young champion is undeniably valued by their club and those around them. Consequently, in a sport where older participants predominate, the young longe côte athlete plays the role of a champion who serves as a role model and conveys a youthful image of the sport.

It can therefore be concluded that the stereotype of a champion based on the idea that “you must overcome pain” or “suffer to win” has not yet emerged in the world of longe côte. For these young people, the champion seems to be a role model accessible to everyone. The longeur finds fulfillment as a champion and shapes the role model in his own image, far removed from the model endorsed by the traditional sports system. For most of them, being the first “longue côte” champions gives them a legitimacy that will allow them to gradually shape this model. Among the five participants interviewed, four see themselves as role models—provided they can achieve further athletic feats. The door is therefore open to young people who may have given up or stopped playing sports due to health issues, as well as to those who will not be able to break into a “highly demanding” sport. Longe côte has made feats previously unimaginable a reality. Thus, it is reasonable to believe that the young longeur champion is poised for a meteoric career in longe côte.

Conclusion

This study has provided a better understanding of why young people take up longe côte, an emerging activity that primarily involves people over the age of 60. The study was conducted under very specific conditions, notably the difficulty of finding young participants for face-to-face interviews. Furthermore, there is a lack of literature on this activity. Nevertheless, this study has allowed us to demonstrate the existence of a new model of sports participation that is taking root in longe côte.

These results show that the majority of the young longeurs surveyed are pioneering champions in longe côte, some of whom even achieve athletic success despite their health issues. It would thus appear that the absence of a pre-established role model has prompted them to create a model in their own image—and, why not, a role model with whom they can identify. However, the desire to create such a model is not clearly expressed. In fact, the ability to be a champion without too many constraints and without needing to be in peak physical condition appears to be a key factor in maintaining these young people’s competitive commitment to longe côte. From the comments of the young people we interviewed, it is clear that this desire to create a model for longe côte walkers does exist. Most of our respondents feel the need to continue their competitive involvement and to contribute to the development of this model.

The establishment of a championship over the past few years has given these young people the opportunity to fulfill their potential as champions by breaking away from the stereotype of the champion model set by the (elite) sports system as the standard. In this way, the young long-distance runner is transforming the adage of athletic success—which equates it with “suffering and hardship”—into one of “easily attainable success,” thereby making it accessible to everyone.

Furthermore, it is important to highlight the key role that health plays in this choice of activity; we believe it is important to study this role in order to understand how health could become a factor that attracts people to this sport. This question could be explored in future research.

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* Internship completed at the Departmental Directorate for Social Cohesion in
, Hérault, as part of a preliminary study for the 2018 development of the “
” coastal walking program.

** Alison Wave Club in Mandelieu, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region: number of young line skiers
, n = 5. Hyères Club, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region: n = 2.

*** Overall standings for the 100-meter solo race at the 2019 French Longe Côte Championship (
), https://my.raceresult.com/129671/results?lang=fr#1_80F50A

**** Quote from “Yoann Coedel, 35, 2017 French Longe Côte Champion” during an interview with him as part of my thesis in 2019 (Achouri, 2019).