Interview with Louise Sauvage

Louise Sauvage who lives and trains in Sydney, Australia is one of the top five women in wheelchair racing. She won the gold medal in the 800 meters at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic games as well as three other golds at the 1996 Paralympics. She is also a two time Boston Marathon winner. She interupted Jean Driscoll's seven time winning streak with her victory in 1997. Lousie Sauvage was interviewed on April 14, 1996 before her first victory at Boston. She talks about her racing career, women in her sport, and her rivalry with Jean Driscoll.

Racing and training

Q: How did you first get involved in wheelchair racing?

LS: I've been involved in wheelchair racing since I was really young. I got my first race chair when I was eight. I just kind of went from junior and senior competitions and then I did my first major road race in about 1992 and then went to the Paralympics. I've been doing road racing seriously in the United States since 1993.

Q: What did you like about racing that kept you interested in it?

LS: I don't know. I think I like the competitiveness about racing more than anything. I'm a very competitive person. I like to win, so I think that's what keeps me going.

Q: If you enjoy the shorter distances like a 10 or a 15k , why do a marathon?

LS: I've been competing in marathons for 4 years now. I think that's the ultimate. I mean lots of people do 10k's and 15K's and then there's the marathon. And, the marathon is it. You don't know anything bigger than the Boston marathon. That's all the runners talk about. Also when you're here you can feel it as soon as you get here. Everyone's asking you, "Are you doing a marathon," And, it's like, "Yep, I'm doing the Boston marathon." And, this year being the hundredth I think it's the one to win, for sure.

Q: How do you build yourself up for a Marathon?

LS: Well, towards the end of last year I worked on another base phase in my training. I have a few races in January and then Gasparilla at the beginning of February. Then I came back and trained for Boston and I'm peaking twice this year and this is the first one so I train about six days in my chair and um I do three days weights and three days swim so I train six days, twice a day. I hope it's going to pay off. This is one of my peaks. The other one's obviously the Paralympics and the Olympics. Yeah, I'd like to win this one.

Q: How do you attack the hills?

LS: As hard as I can. Just try to stay with Jean. She's a pretty good hill climber. She said the other night on T.V. that she considers herself the best so we'll have to wait and see if she can really out climb me this year.

Q: What do you do the night before the race to prepare?

LS: Try to keep calm and not have to think about the race. Usually when you think about things like that, all the nerves come out and you tend to dwell on them too much and you get so worked up and it's not good for you. So I keep everything in perspective and take everything as it comes. You're pretty prepared. I've done this before and I'm going to go on the bus and stay on there for over an hour and you get to the school hall and prepare again and it's another waiting process. It's a very long day. It's not like you are getting in your chair at the hotel and you are pushing off to the start. So, just kind of keeping everything into perspective and just keeping relaxed.

Q: Are you looking at your competition the morning of the race and checking them out at all?

LS: Not really, I don' t think so. I'll probably talk to a couple of them definitely I mean some of us are just really relaxed and can talk to each other and it's not a problem and other people you don't even say anything to but that's okay. I respect what they want to do and that's fine.

Q: How do you keep yourself motivated?

LS: That's a really good question that I'd like to know the answer to. For a marathon I think especially this one, the first 10K's are over before I know it. Like last year, I had done 10K and we were there and I was like wow. I think if you're with somebody else and you're racing side by side, or you know you're in the draft out of the draft, it goes a lot quicker and it's a lot easier race than if you're out there by yourself and you're just kind of plodding along. And say you've got a flat, you've got no one in back of you or in front of you. I just think it's a lot harder. If there's someone there I think it's a lot easier on you mentally. You know how many K's you've got to do. You've got your spedometer with you so you know how fast you're going and how far you've got to go and things like that. There's a lot of talk in my head that helps me along the way as well especially when you are hurting.

Q: What kind of pain are you going to be experiencing during a marathon and how do you work yourself through that?

LS: I hope I'm not going to be in too much pain. I think I'm just going to tell myself, "Do I want to win this or not"? I mean that's going to be the difference. It's how bad you want to win or is it going to be worth it. You have to convince yourself of that more than anything I think.

Q: To be an elite athlete do you have to be confident to the point where it's almost overconfident?

LS: I don't like to be overconfident, or else I think you jinx yourself. Maybe I'd like to feel confident within myself but I just wouldn't express it so much as other athletes might. But I think it's good for a person to feel confident. I mean maybe perhaps they are ready and that's a good thing.

Q: What kind of questions or what kind of comments do you get from people when you are out training?

LS: A lot of people stop you and are like wow what's that, where did you get that from and how much does it weigh, and do you race this and what kind of races do you do? You get stared at a lot but that's okay because the more people that see us the more people comment and tell their friends and perhaps see us in a race and are like wow it's a really good sport.

Q: How are you able to afford racing?

LS: To be able to race like I do and compete all over the world, I have a couple of sponsors who help me out, mostly with airfare. One of them is the Australian Institute of Sport and also an American company called Invacare. They help me out with equipment and travel money because I have to come to the U-S a lot to compete. My airfare is like over 2000 Australian dollars each trip so that's probably my biggest expense other than my equipment. A chair can cost about 2000 U-S and then you've got your tires and your wheels and everything else that goes with it. And also traveling all the time and you've got your hotels and things like that. So those two sponsors help me out the most and they're probably been the best to me throughout the years and helped me achieve what I have today.

Q: What are your goals for 1996?

LS: My goals for this year. I have three. The first one is hopefully going to happen tomorrow. That's doing the Boston Marathon. The second one is to hopefully win an Olympic medal and then go on to the Paralympics and win a Paralympic medal and if it's gold it would be even better. So I have three goals for this year and then next year I don't know I'm going to have to take a bit of a break and see how I feel and reassess it then.

Rivalry with Jean

Q: Is it frustrating to keep facing Jean Driscoll at racing events?

LS: No I think it's good. I really like competing against Jean. I wish thier were more girls around at Jean's level so we could have big packs of women like they do the men. It would be absolutely brilliant. So I think it's good that she's there. All of the races I look forward to competing against Jean and the other girls because I don't get a lot of competition in my home country so it's good to get away and get some good competition and do some fast times.

Q: What will it take to beat Jean at Boston?

LS: To win Boston, I think I'm going to have to work really hard. I know Jean is a very good competitor and I've raced here three times already on this course and I think it'll be very hard to stay with her but I think to win Boston I have to try and stay with Jean and hopefully be there at the finish. Most of the races that I compete with Jean in, they usually come down to a sprint finish or something like that, so I think I just have to hang with her. And, I don't think I'll be able to make or break or anything like that, but we'll just have to see what happens tomorrow. I think it's just going to be whatever happens on the day. A lot of things can go wrong and a lot of things can go good, so you never know

Q: You consistently beat Jean at the Gasparilla 15K in Florida. Why?

LS: Gasparilla is a very different course and it's only fifteen kilometer race. It's very flat. For the past two years we've had a towel in for the finish and that's made a bit of difference for me. Um, but the course is totally different and the distance. I don't think I have as much endurance say for a marathon than for a 15K. But, I like Gasparilla. It's a good race.

Q: If Jean won Boston for the seventh time what kind of effect do you think it would have?

LS: I'm not sure what effect it will have. Obviously the media will jump on it because I don't think anybody in any category has ever done that. There is a lot of pressure on her at the moment to do that. She seems pretty confident that she's going to do it...so we'll just say good luck to Jean and if she does do seven I'll be there shaking her hand.

Q: But you're going to try to stop that aren't you.

LS: Yeah..That's what I came here for, so we'll see what happens. I won't be sour if she does, to put it that way. I'll be shaking her hand.

Q: Do you have to be relentless when you are racing her?

LS: Yeah I think it's a do or die situation. You really have to get out there and hammer out. It's a "you've got no friends out there" kind of thing. It's you or them so what do you want so you can't be all nice to them. So I think it is pretty tough and so it's like your friends off the course. But on the course you are competitors.

Women in Racing

Q: Do you think there's a problem of getting women involved in wheelchair sports?

LS: Sometimes I think, like any other sport, it's male dominated. It's a hard sport but I think you get a lot of enjoyment out of it more than anything. You know a physically and healthy lifestyle. I think there are more pros than cons about it. But it's definitely not a lot of women racing. I think there should be more. I'd like there to be more.

Q: What do you think about the argument that the women shouldn't get the same amount of money as the male racers?

LS: Well, I think it's good that we do get the same prize money but I can see their point of view where there is a lot more men and not so many women. They feel it's not so hard for us as it is for them to win that kind of money, but I think it is great that it is equal no matter how many competitors there are. I think we train just as hard and prepare...We train and compete just as hard as they do to win that money no matter how many of us there are. I think we deserve at least first place to be the same.

Q: Is it frustrating that men get more exposure on TV than women in this sport?

LS: Maybe, sometimes, but I think any media we get whether it be male or female is got to be good. This sport is so unknown among the general public that I think any media coverage we get whether it be male or female is great. I mean it is great when the females do get attention but um I don't mind as long as we get publicity and people see what we do.