My story
TimothyMontavon
Athletics - U18 - Javelin thrower
Foundations
The origins of a passion
Before I even set foot on a track, I was already running everywhere. Running, jumping, throwing. Especially pitching.
Every stone found became a projectile, every space a playground. Athletics wasn't yet a sport, but it was already a given.
At home, my father often told me about the local club, U.S. Arnage. All you had to do was wait until you were old enough.
Club entry
Officially, early years athletics begin later, at around 7 or 8 years of age. But at 5 yearsat the Arnage associations forum, my enthusiasm didn't go unnoticed.
Guy Pluwho was in charge of the youngest categories, immediately saw the raw desire, the boundless energy and the eye for action.
He has known the family for a long time - great-grandfather had trained him himself. So he makes a simple choice: open the door.
And so it begins.
« His throws sometimes went right up to the wall of the hall. Already. »
— Laurence Guillin, one of her first early-learning coaches
The first years
During my years as a "éveil", "poussin" and then "benjamins", I tried my hand at everything. I learn about variety, adaptation and play. I'm supervised by Guy Plu, Laurence, Romain and Mathieu.
It was also the time when I discovered the camaraderie and the strength of collective. At that age, it's not about winning at all costs - it's about having fun, sharing and learning together. Even if I already had that little conquering side that will never leave me.
And then there are those magic moments: attending the france championships as a spectator, discovering the atmosphere of the big stadiums, asking the athletes for autographs. I can already see myself there. These moments feed the dream and anchor the ambition.
Together, they lay the foundations: pleasure above all, a framework, respect and the desire to progress.
The cross-country school
« Cross-country running becomes a school. A school of the mind, of confrontation, of surpassing oneself. »
Cross-country is not my favourite discipline. But every winter, I'm there. With a smile on my face.
The cold, the mud and the long, hard effort don't keep me away. Quite the opposite, in fact. Competing is not a constraint: is already a passion.
Measuring yourself against others, standing at the starting line, giving it everything you've got. This taste for competition will never leave me.
Friends
Athletics is an individual sport by nature. On the track, in the throwing area, everyone is alone in their performance. And yet.., no one really wins alone.
Competition weekends in Sarthe take on a special flavor thanks to the friendships that are built track after track, event after event. We don't all run the same distance, but we're all heading in the same direction. The collective doesn't erase individuality: it reveals it.
Gaspard Moriceau, Emerik Piette, Étienne Plus, Pierre Dequirez. We've been following each other for several years now. First names that rhyme with healthy rivalry, mutual encouragement and shared challenges. Without them, my sport wouldn't have the same flavor.
And beyond the Sarthe, at regional level too, links are being forged. Enzo Clavery, Otis Torregrosa, Clément Alain, Gerlain Ulliste... and many more besides. Athletes we meet regularly in competition, with whom sporting rivalries become lasting friendships.
And even then, we're only talking about the region. But athletics goes far beyond that. Interclubs, interleagues, the League Cup, pre-France, not to mention the French championships... Four or five regions come together: Bretagne, Normandie, Pays de la Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, Île-de-France. Faces you recognize from one competition to the next. Athletics is a big family.
« An individual sport, a collective dynamic. That's what athletics is all about. »
« Suddenly, I found myself alone at the club in the U16. »
But Christmas is here
The end of the benjamins period marks a turning point. A lot of young people stop. I'm a the only youngest to continue.
As for the U16 already in place with Noël, they also stop. Double departure.
Alone to train, alone to represent Arnage in my category. The group that used to support, motivate and reassure me is no longer there. I withdraw a little. This period is demanding, sometimes heavy.
But Noël Patinec is always there. Patient, present, listening. What could be an ordeal becomes a rare opportunitypersonalized coaching, made-to-measure support. Almost a luxury.
What also keeps me going are the gatherings, the competitions, the times when I meet up with other young people my age. It's where athletics becomes a collective experience, alive and shared.
Hurdle training
Long Jump training
Night training - with Christmas
« Being the only U16 in Arnage is both a challenge and a source of pride. And with Christmas, a chance to progress. »
Versatility
It was also in the U16 that my versatility fully asserted itself. Beyond the javelin, I love all the disciplines of athletics. Testing, learning, progressing everywhere: versatility became my guiding principle.
Regional Champion
Octathlon - U16 2 - May 2025
« Testing everything, and doing it well: that's already my trademark. »
Those years forged something profound. They show that passion isn't always enough, but that it can get you through periods of doubt.
They lay the foundations for the athlete I would become: versatile, attached to my club, brought to life by the competition, and deeply human in my relationship with others.
« More on this later.
But it all starts here. »
Time for choices
The consecration
The U16 period doesn't just end with memories and learning. It also ends with results.
In June 2025, I become french UGSEL champion javelin, then a few weeks later, javelin winner at the League Cup U16 U16 in Lens.
Two titles, in the same season. Two confirmations. Not as a surprise, but as the logical culmination of years of hard work, versatility and total commitment.
Winning throw - French UGSEL Championships, Lens
These results are no accident. For several months now, preparations have been underway for the next stage. School files were put together in the spring. The plan was clear on paper: to go to Poitiers, join a sports-study structure and specialize in javelin.
However, in my head, everything is not yet aligned. I'm still in denial. I think I can continue to do everything at once. Combined events, javelin, versatility. I want to believe that everything can coexist.
Reality always catches up.
Poitiers
At the start of the 2025 school year, I will be joining the Lycée Camille Guérin in Poitiers, as a boarder. I have 15 years. It's not a family break-up, but it's an important step. Leaving home during the week, meeting up with my parents and my little sister at the weekend, leaving again on Monday morning.
My days are punctuated by lessons in the morning and training in the afternoon, every day. On Friday evenings, I return to Arnage, where I train with Noël Patinec for a fifth weekly session, more versatile, freer, almost like a link with what I've always been.
In Poitiers, the environment is impressive. Athletes from a wide variety of backgrounds: swimming, boxing, basketball, track and field. Youngsters already very high up in the rankings. The level is high, the demands constant.
Lycée Camille Guérin
Sport-études
Stade Paul-Rébeilleau
Daily workouts
CREPS
Pôle Espoir
« Here, sport can only work if studies follow. It's an inseparable dual project. Sport alone is not enough. »
« You can't be good at everything. Combined events demand immense energy. If you try to do everything at once, you risk losing yourself. At that level, the choice is yours. »
— Luc Duquerroy, federal trainer
This discussion takes place 3 months agoin November 2025, during a training session. I had just taken part in the departmental indoor combined events championships, where I qualified for the regional indoor championshipswhich took place at the end of December.
Seven indoor events, two days of intense effort, an atmosphere I love. I even slightly injured my knee, as a further sign that the body too has its limits.
Combined: what I leave behind.
There are many discussions surrounding this choice. With the coach, of course. But also with my parents. Present from day one, they've been with me every step of the way, every progression, every doubt. They know better than anyone how sport, and athletics in all its richness, is a powerful fuel for me.
For them too, this renunciation is a source of frustration. Sometimes it's even a shared denial: how can I accept putting aside a discipline that has built me up so much, given me so much fulfillment? But support also means accepting reality, even when it upsets.
It's a difficult choice. A very difficult one.
There's frustration. Sadness. A kind of immediate nostalgia. Combined events are about cohesion, whole weekends, intensity, successive battles. It's a terrain where I feel alive, a competitor, fully committed.
But it's a necessary renunciation.
Giving up the combined events doesn't mean giving up what builds me. My versatility is still there. Hurdles, long jump, high jump and sprint will continue to be part of my daily routine.
No longer an end in itself, but a means to an end foundations for the javelin. To progress, to strengthen, to keep the pleasure intact. It's not about locking yourself in, it's about channelling.
The course is clear
From now on, he will leave the combined events behind and devote himself fully to the javelin. With the clear hope of aiming high. Selection for the French national team. Training courses with the best. Maybe even an international career.
Not as a promise, but as a working objective, demanding, without certainty, where everything remains to be built.
This choice marks a new stage. More mature. More aware. More committed.
Pleasure remains the driving force. Lucidity, the safeguard. Work is the key.
« What happens next won't be easy.
But it has now been chosen. »
Family heritage
A family story
The legacy of Roger Collas
My father, himself a pitcher, was trained by my great-grandfather Roger Collasan emblematic figure in Sarthe athletics.
French champion at the age of 18, sprinter on the doorstep of the French team, then manager for nearly 20 years, the coulaines stadium now bears his name, a tribute to his commitment to the sport.
His example of fighting spirit inspires me to give my all in training and competition.
Today
I benefit from double supervision between my training club and my sport-study center
Noël Patinec
Versatile trainer
US Arnage (ESA)
My coach since I started in the U16, he trains me in all the disciplines of athletics.
Luc Duquerroy
Federal javelin coach
EC Poitiers (Pôle Espoir)
He supervises all my daily javelin training as part of my sport-studies.
Arnage / Poitiers
Double anchorage
Sport-études
Lycée Camille Guérin
50.70m
Personal best
My ambitions
Objectives 2025-2026
First objective
Over 55 metres in the javelin
Season objective
Aiming for 60 metres by the end of the season
Versatility
Progress in long jump, sprint and hurdles
Beyond the javelin
For me, athletics is more than a sport: it's a way of life. Legends like Carl Lewis, Jan Železný, Kevin Mayer, Armand Duplantis inspire me to stay competitive and embrace challenges with passion.
My passions
E-sport
A passion for gaming and virtual competition
Ski
On the slopes since I was 3
Physical therapy
My study project to help other athletes
My values
Perseverance
Every training session counts. I give everything to progress, I never give up.
Passion
My love of the javelin and athletics drives me to give my best.
Humility
Learning from my coaches, my opponents and each competition.
Want to find out more?
Check out my results or write to me if you'd like to exchange ideas!