Leo Bergere: How childhood experiences in a Pacific Island jungle helped shape a triathlon world champion 

How do you build a triathlon world champion?

For France’s Leo Bergere, the 2022 winner of the World Triathlon Championship Series, his winning mentality can be traced back to a time in his childhood when his mother accepted a teaching position on a small island in the Pacific called New Caledonia.

“My family and I moved to New Caledonia when I was seven and that’s an integral part of who I am today,” the 26-year-old revealed in an interview with Shocks. “In New Caledonia life was different to France, the roots in society are focused on different things. They focus on their people. They focus on their connection with nature.”

Immersing themselves in the local culture, Bergere and his family lived with the local tribe. The young Frenchman spent much of his life outdoors in the jungle, which instilled in him a love for natural landscapes.

But more than that, he grew a sense of self-sufficiency and found an inner determination that helped make him the athlete he is today.

“Those experiences stayed with me and shaped who I am,” he said of those three idyllic years on the island. “I knew how to be independent, how to be strong and I’d developed a lifelong love of being outside.”

The independence he gained on the island, where he often spent up to three days away from his parents, proved essential when, as a budding triathlete back in France, he made the decision to leave his family and concentrate wholly on his sport.

At age 15, the teenager upped sticks and moved to a training facility where he could hone his craft. And while he did feel homesick, his progression as an athlete made him realise that he had made the right decision.

A fire had been lit within him and he began to dedicate his life to becoming the very best triathlete possible.

Leo Bergere: A passion for triathlon forged in a love for the outdoors

Even today, Bergere talks passionately about his love for nature. It made the long, hard hours of training needed to become an elite triathlete more bearable.

The alternative would probably have seen him give up the sport long ago.

“It’s true that I’m not somebody that would be able to only train on the turbo trainer or spend most of the time indoors,” he told the World Triathlon Podcast. “I need to be outside, I need to feel the nature around me, I need to get lost.”

In a way, Bergere is a throwback to another time. He doesn’t spend a lot of time on social media, explaining the decision by saying: “You can think too much about what others are doing and not focus on your thing. Just do your thing, you know!”

It seems like all of his decisions, in the purest sense, are focused on his sporting aims, the greatest of those including winning an Olympic medal.

“My biggest goal in triathlon would be one day to be one of the best triathletes in the world, fighting for the podium of the ranking and eventually grab a medal at the Olympics,” he said in 2019.

Leo Bergere: The surprise 2022 World Champion whose childhood values continue to guide his way

The 2022 World Triathlon Championship Series was one for the ages, with the entire year going right to the wire.

In third place overall heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Bergere was not the name most people were tipping for the title - Great Britain’s Alex Yee and New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde were the safe bets.

After all, the Frenchman had never triumphed in any World Triathlon Championship Series race.

But in a thrilling final battle, Bergere rose to the occasion, securing victory and with it the overall season crown.

It was a rich reward for all the years spent outside on the bike, in the pool and on the roads grinding to make himself one of the world’s best in his sport.

But even as he stands on top of the triathlon world, he hasn’t forgotten where he came from and the values he learned from those three years living in New Caledonia.

“When it comes to my time with the tribe, there were many human values to do with respecting each other that were multiplied,” he told French publication L’Union. “And I try to remember that every day.”

Leo Bergere races in the World Triathlon Championship Series in Yokohama on Saturday 13 May.