All in all, sport and studies. “I validated my term with top marks”. Not an easy feat when you only got a 9 in English in your A-levels and, at Essex County College, all classes are of course taught in the American language. “I don’t have any problems. I live very well there. When I left, I was a bit sad to leave. I didn’t think I’d get so attached to my new environment. I feel really good. In short, it’s America. As a result, the two-time French junior 400 m runner-up from EA Cherbourg – Querqueville (56”49 in 2013, and 55”51 in 2014), exiled to the States, “initially for a year”, is already talking “about at least two years… for the moment”, as she finds everything “great” and says she’s “happy”.

Happy with her classes, Eugenie. Not yet with her race. Her only race, to be more precise. “It’s not at all representative of what I can do. It was a disaster! The conditions were weird. The track was flat, with no sharp bends, and it was slippery. I also only had fifteen minutes to warm up. It was very bad, 61 seconds!” Some three seconds off his best indoor time. But that’s not enough to dampen Eugénie’s enthusiasm. “I have confidence in my coach, Mickaël Smart, who has taken ten athletes to the Olympic Games. Obviously, that’s impressive… Up to now, training “in the school gym, which doesn’t have a stadium” has focused mainly on “physical preparation. Now we’re starting to run. Not a lot of speed, just a lot of distance. And we haven’t put our spikes on at all. In Cherbourg, I did two sessions with Thierry (N.D.L.R. Taillandier, who had been training her since 2011) and he found me stronger. To each his own. The answer won’t be long in coming. Eugénie is already in the starting blocks. “There’s a big season coming up,” she announces, her tone greedy. “Every week for two months. In New Jersey, Boston, New York”. Names that sound like an American dream. Wait and see. Wait and see.