Jeanne Lehair interview: “I love this sport, but I love winning even more!”

Jeanne, how did you spend your 2025–2026 off-season break?

I wrapped up my 2025 season in Chile, with two World Cups, so I stayed there for two weeks of vacation. We went down to Patagonia, to the Osorno volcano… It was stunning. The year before, I went to Bolivia, also to hike around. I love trashing my legs on hikes (laughs). Even when I’m in Font-Romeu with my training group, I usually do hikes the first week of camp, just blowing my legs up.

How did you process your incredible 2025 season?

Pretty well. When things go that well, it’s not too hard to digest. I only had one real off day in 2025, and unfortunately it was at the WTCS Grand Final, so it put a bit of a dent in the season. But still, I’ve got one bad race on the board from last year, so purely performance-wise it was an amazing season. For two years I’d been hovering around the WTCS podium, finishing 4th or 5th, and I’d told myself it would be nice to get my first podium in 2025… In the end I got two, plus a win in Yokohama, so I’m thrilled. When I see that some super experienced, super talented athletes like Pablo Villaça, for example, still haven’t won a WTCS in their career even though he’s really strong, I tell myself that when I retire, I’ll be able to say I won at least one round of the world championship. Not that many of us manage to win. Last year, only five women won on the WTCS season, that’s it (Lisa Tertsch, Cassandre Beaugrand, Léonie Periault, Beth Potter and Jeanne Lehair, ed.). Being part of that pretty exclusive circle is awesome.

Racing for Luxembourg and discovering a new training set-up took a weight off my shoulders...

What do you think helped you confirm you belong at the very top, right then?

It’s been since 2021, post-Covid, that I’ve been right there… Joining a new training group, having a new coach like Paulo Sousa, racing for Luxembourg, so not having massive pressure before every race, having people who trust me, who put me in good conditions, who leave me in peace a bit and don’t pile on pointless stress, that all played a huge role in letting me flourish performance-wise. I love sport, but I love winning even more, even if I’m not saying I can win all the time. Doing sport for your health is great, but that’s not my goal, and neither is finishing 20th, even if it’s happened and it’ll probably happen again…

Maybe I also benefited from the post-Paris 2024 dynamic, with the top girls probably backing off a bit. That’s why I can’t wait to start the 2026 season, because everyone will be back, like Giorgia Taylor-Brown returning to her best level, and all the other girls. Either way, I made the most of it last year, and I hope I can do the same with everyone at 100% this year.

© Wout Roosenboom/World Triathlon

© Ben Lumley/World Triathlon

© Marta Gorczynska/Supertri

How would you describe the path that brought you here?

I did my first triathlon at six, following my dad, who was a huge fan and did endurance sports in general. He did the Raid Gauloises, among other things, then triathlon.

Since then, it’s been a long, winding road. The main challenge is being consistent year after year, and my 2025 success is the result of steady work over the previous three or four years more than some magic recipe I found. Before that, I wasn’t spared injuries either, and training conditions in Metz probably weren’t ideal. I was able to perform later because I was in a healthier, calmer environment, I’d been freed from a lot of weight, and results came. I tried to remove all the negative things from my life.

You also changed nationality, leaving France to race for Luxembourg. Can you walk us through that?

The year before Covid, unfortunately, I lost my grandfather, and right before he passed he dropped a bombshell: “You do know we’re Luxembourgers, right?” In 2020, since I had time because I couldn’t train due to health problems, I told myself: “Well, if I can’t do much, I might as well dig into this…” I managed to find ancestors, birth certificates; I discovered my mum could officially apply for Luxembourg nationality. And then me too. I really wrestled with it, because I’d done all my junior years under the French flag, and because the French mixed relay also meant a lot to me, where I’d always delivered. I thought about it a lot, but with France I had to wait until 2021 for my first WTCS start, and I didn’t have unwavering support from the FFTRI at that time, so I took the plunge and became Luxembourgish. And I think it took a weight off my shoulders…

My 2025 success is the result of consistency over the previous three or four seasons

Did switching flags change your relationship with the French girls, is it more ‘chill’ between you now?

I never really had issues with the girls, but it’s true that when you’re in the same federation and spots are limited, there can be tension. We got along, but at the same time you know you have to beat the other one if you want your spot, and that’s not easy all the time. Now I don’t have that dynamic with them at all, so it makes relationships simpler and calmer. And at races it’s a pleasure seeing them again before the competition, especially since I often show up alone at events, without a coach or anything, kind of doing my own thing.

Tell us about your training group and how it works.

I train with the Triathlon Squad, coached by Paulo Sousa, a Portuguese coach who lives in the United States. The group is based in Monte Gordo, Portugal. We meet there in winter. In summer we usually spend it in Font-Romeu. The rest of the year, everyone lives and trains in their own city; for me, I split time between Toulouse and Metz. The make-up of the group changes a bit, because after every Olympiad some people retire (ed.: for 2026 the group is made up of Miriam Casillas, Roksana Słupek, Costanza Arpinelli, Cecilia Ramirez, Taylor Spivey, Maxime Hueber, Lucas Cambresy, Nicola Azano, Nathan Lessmann, and Jeanne Lehair). It’s really nice training with people from all kinds of backgrounds, it’s a super enriching mix of cultures, and there’s fresh blood regularly coming into the group.

© Petko Beier/World Triathlon

© Ben Lumley/World Triathlon

I don’t actually need to do triathlon to be happy, even if right now I’m genuinely happy in my sport

So in 2026 you’re focused on WTCS, I guess, with some Super League on the schedule too?

Yes, that’s it for WTCS. My goal will be to repeat podiums and wins on the WTCS, hopefully with a happier ending than the 2025 final. And above all I hope to score points toward the LA 2028 Olympics.
As for Super League, the format has changed a bit, with three qualifying races on the Sprint format, and the “real” Super League, the final, should be in Jersey, raced in the usual format, thankfully. I’ll be honest, I’m less of a fan of this new format, but I’ll be able to race the final without going through the qualifiers.

Which areas do you want to build on to keep performing?

First, I think I can still improve physiologically in all three sports: get faster, or hold the speeds I can already hit for longer, for example.
I also really need to get better at beach starts, since that’s what we’ll have in Los Angeles. I’ve got short legs, and when I hit the water it’s already up to my hips, while some girls like Cassandre still only have it at their ankles or knees… Dolphin diving isn’t really my thing either, and I much prefer dive starts off a pontoon.
On the bike, the depth is getting stronger and stronger, so the packs are often bigger and bigger. And honestly, I have very little trust in the girls. I find most of them really dangerous when we’re riding in a bunch. Sometimes I’d rather sit at the back of the pack because of that. Either I need to improve on the bike so I can stay at the front, or be even stronger in the swim so I can get away and make a smaller group of seven or eight… Being in contact, rubbing shoulders in the pack doesn’t scare me, it’s more the abrupt, sudden line changes that worry me and make me uneasy in a big group. I need to work on that, maybe mentally too…

© Tommy Zaferes/World Triathlon

What limits do you set for yourself in the coming years? A lot of short-course athletes move up to IRONMAN 70.3, is that a goal for you in the short or long term?

I already had a taste of long course last year, finishing 2nd at IRONMAN 70.3 Valencia, which was slotted between the WTCS Abu Dhabi and Yokohama. I hadn’t ridden exceptionally, which wasn’t really a surprise, but I did run well, and it was a good experience. Right after that I thought, doing the Worlds over that distance, why not, but in the end the Worlds date made things complicated and I couldn’t go.

It’s not on the agenda this season either. It could be fun, but I don’t want to show up and get absolutely destroyed, or go there with zero specific prep. So long course isn’t really a short- or mid-term project.

I’ll be 32 after the 2028 Olympics, and I’ve always wanted to build a family life, have kids, several even. So I won’t be able to ‘hang around’ (smiles), even though we have plenty of examples of women coming back at their best level after pregnancy. But it depends on so many things. And triathlon isn’t the easiest sport to balance with all that. So for now I’m going all-in with LA 2028 in mind. And I can totally see myself having a great life after triathlon too. I don’t actually need triathlon to be happy, even if right now I’m truly happy in my sport. What’s certain is I’ll never stay in triathlon just because I’ve got nothing else to do.

© Petko Beier/World Triathlon

© Petko Beier/WOrld Triathlon

© Petko Beier/World Triathlon

UPDATE: In the first part of the 2026 season, Jeanne finished 3rd at the Samarkhand World Cup (KAZ), 3rd at WTCS Yokohama (JAP), 4th at WTCS Alghero (ITA), 5th at WTCS Quiberon, and 8th at WTCS Hamburg and London.

JEANNE LEHAIR IN BRIEF