Orlann Oliere grew up a stone’s throw from Claude Pitou Stadium, but as a child, she never gave it much thought. The 400-metre track, the steeplechase water jump and the discus circle just weren’t her thing. A native of Sens, a town south-east of Paris, she had zero interest in athletics or any other sport. Much to the disappointment of her friends and family, she saw no point in pulling on a pair of shorts just to sweat and pant through a workout.

“I’ve been a fast runner ever since I was little—and I beat the boys. So of course everyone told me I should be a sprinter.” Most of the other athletes on the French national team followed their passion from an early age, but Orlann is frank about being different. Her calling came late and almost by accident.

“My mother was on the strict side, and in secondary school I had to be home no later than 18.00. But in athletics, we trained at the end of the day, so it was a great excuse for coming home later. It gave me some slack.” Result: Orlann walked into Claude Pitou Stadium for the first time in November 2007 at age 16. What happened next was unusual, to say the least. She ran her first meet just two months later, in January 2008.

A few weeks later, the girl who’d never been “big into sport” surprised everyone by winning the silver medal in the French national 60 m event. That summer, she went on to win the French national Cadet 2 100 m title and qualified for the World Athletics U20 Championships. In barely 10 months, Orlann Oliere had made a sensational debut in the world of French sprinters.

“People at the club were stunned. They hadn’t known anything about me, and suddenly there I was—the first member to make the national team,” she recalls matter-of-factly. “I had no idea it was a big deal. I was just a kid looking to have fun. I didn’t have the fire yet.” As Orlann herself admits, she “loved competing”, but was less keen on training.

But in 2009 her performance level left her no choice. On her coach’s advice, she headed for the Burgundy training centre in Dijon, where she confirmed her inclination for sprinting. By the end of the year, she had joined the creme de la crème—the elite INSEP programme in Paris.

But INSEP is a champion factory, and for the first time in her brief career, Orlann had to up her game. “It was tough,” she says. “Suddenly, I wasn’t the fastest runner anymore.” She was only there for about 18 months. Though she rubbed elbows with current and future French stars—Ladji Doucouré, Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, Kevin Mayer and more—she never really caught the fever. She wasn’t giving it her all, said coach Guy Ontanon, and he openly regretted that her enormous potential was only half realized.

“I have a hard time explaining it even today,” Orlann says frankly. “I was immature. I had fallen into elite athletics by accident, and I never got fired up.” Yet despite her obvious detachment, she scored successes. In 2011, she won a silver medal in the 4x100 m relay at the Europe U23 Championships at Mestský d’Ostrava Stadium in the Czech Republic—her first major title. It pointed to a great career and should have been a huge source of motivation. Back in France, she set a new speed record—but not on the track. “I told everyone at the club ‘See you next week,’ but they never saw me again. I suspended my Facebook account and changed my number. I didn’t think about it. I’d just had enough.” 

Orlann turned her back on INSEP, gave up on any possibility of an elite career in sport, and went home to Sens. Over and over, her parents, aunts and uncles, friends and many others all said the same thing: “What a waste!” But the former elite sprinter took no offense. She was sure she’d made the right choice. The 2012 Olympic Games in London barely registered with her, and a year later she joyfully welcomed the birth of her son. Life went on, year by uneventful year.

But in 2016, completely unexpectedly, her past finally caught up with her. That year the Olympic Games were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Kevin Mayer and the rest of the French team performed brilliantly. She had known them all at INSEP. “I said to myself, ‘Darn it, they’re all in my generation. All of them made it, and I should’ve been there!” Guy Ontanon finally got the call he’d stopped waiting for—but it was too late. For the moment, there was no way back to INSEP. She’d been away too long.

Now 25, Orlann started over from scratch. In December 2016, she went back to Claude Pitou Stadium and began training without a coach. Three months after this unlikely return, she won the silver medal in the 60 m event at the French indoor championships, and her astonishing story began again.

Her return to the French national team caught many by surprise. “They were shocked!” she says with a laugh. In 2018, she went back to INSEP and resumed training with Guy Ontanon—and this time, she was determined not to disappoint him. “It took time, but I’m a pro today. I’m totally committed to what I do.” Among other signs of change, Orlann actually likes training. “Every session is time away from my son, so they all need to be worth it. They have to pay off.” And they have. She’s scored success after success, with 3 silver medals in the 100 m at the French national championships, 2 gold medals in the 100 m and 4x100 m relay at the Mediterranean Games in 2018, and gold in the 4x100 m relay at the 2019 European Team Championships.

Orlann’s strong showing continued at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, where she reached the 4x100 m finals. Now she’s setting her sights on the Olympic Games Paris 2024. “I have no regrets and the future is ahead of me,” she says. “I turn 33 this year, and that’s the age when sprinters realize their full potential.”

“I’ve always worked,” says Orlann. She’s held jobs in factories, sales and more, and for 3 years she was a civil servant. In early 2017, when she suddenly decided to return to sprinting, taking time off to train wasn’t an option, and she was left with no safety net. Fortunately, she delivered results, and the sponsors came back. “But my situation was still complicated and fragile. Even worse, the Olympics were postponed due to the Covid-19 crisis.” Fully aware that she was “closer to the end than the beginning” of her career, she wanted to strike a new balance. “I’ve always needed something in life besides sport.”

It was Harold Correa, French national triple jump champion and an SNCF employee since 2015, who told Orlann about the SNCF Athletes Programme. “He reassured me and really sold me on it, because what I wanted above all was a company where I could grow,” she says. “Once I saw the light, I really wanted to have this opportunity and get a special employment agreement (CIP contract).” With help from her athletic federation, she did just that. Since December 2020, Orlann has been a customer care agent on Transilien lines N and U. “Now that I’m at SNCF, I’m all in,” she says firmly. “When I’m at work, there is no elite athlete in the picture: I’m like everyone else.”

The atmosphere at SNCF is a big help. “At my other jobs, I’d never seen anything like the friendliness and sense of family we have here. Everyone’s on a first-name basis here, regardless of position. That’s healthy.” Does this mean she can imagine a future here—without another 180° turn? “My ambition is really to grow within the company. I want to earn in-house qualifications and move up,” she says. “Meanwhile, I’m starting on the ground, and that’s perfect. That’s how you learn the basics.”

2024

4^th in the 4x100m relay at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

French indoor champion 60 m

2021

Finalist, 4x100 m relay, Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

French champion, 100 m

4^th place, 60 m, European Indoor Championships

2019

French Vice-Champion, 100 m

European Champion, 4x100 m relay

2018

French Vice-Champion, 100 m

Finalist, 100 m, European Championships

Finalist, 4x100 m, European Championships

Gold medal, 100 m and 4x100 m, Mediterranean Games

2017

French Vice-Champion, 100 m