Florian Olivier has been passionate about sport and the mountains since childhood. Wanting to work in the great outdoors, he is today manager at the Maison du Tourisme du Pilat. After a successful sports career in volleyball, where he competed at national level, he now dedicates himself to trail.
In 2013, he achieved his first successes with several podium finishes and victories in competition. Notably, at the French Club Orienteering Championships, where he won the title of Vice-Champion of France as part of a team in Nationale 3, in 3h54min04sec. Then, at the Étoiles de Gimel (22 km / 560 D+), finishing 1st in 1h41 minutes — a victory he went on to repeat in 2014, over the 32 km (1000 D+) in 2h35 minutes.
Since then, he has continued to rack up the kilometres and metres of elevation, ready to conquer new summits in Cimalp kit. In 2014, Florian Olivier became Cimalp's ambassador for trail: "As a Mountain Leader, I have known Cimalp for several years, particularly for the quality and reliability of its products. It is with great pleasure that I carry the brand's values of innovation and performance to the trail community."
Florian's race stories:
To date, he has completed, among others, the trail des Aiguilles Reds in 2013, which was his first truly major mountain race: 50 km and 4,000 metres of positive elevation gain!
"The race is nothing but a succession of magnificent memories: a majestic sunrise over Mont White from the Brévent, and passages above 2,500 m in wild mountain terrain! This race, completed with two friends, shows that even though trail is an individual sport, the sense of team is very much present. My greatest memory will be that feeling of complete fulfilment, alone on the singletrack below the Brévent, as dawn broke and chamois took possession of the scree slopes. The mountains are so beautiful…!"
That same year, he ran the Saintélyon, which is without doubt "the greatest off-road race in the Rhône-Alpes region and arguably in the whole of France! It's only when you stand on the start line that you truly realise it… The crowd is incredible! I wanted at least once in my trail running career to take on this legendary race, and that moment came with the 60th edition."
"This race is quite different from the events I have tackled so far: longer, more tarmac, more runnable… and all of that at night, in winter. The great unknown was the nature of the terrain, as we had been warned of a lot of black ice. And what had to happen did happen — a nasty fall at km 12 and an extremely painful knee. At that moment, the question of whether to carry on or abandon crossed my mind, and ultimately it was mental strength that allowed me to keep going, spending a good part of the races running alongside Maud Gobert, runner and trail world champion in 2011. The joy of trail is also this: being able to run alongside great champions! That nasty injury slowed my progress and my hopes of finishing in the top 50 of this legendary race. Nevertheless, I finished at dawn, in the top 100 out of more than 5,000 runners, with a stunning panorama over the Alps."
On Saturday 5 September 2014, Florian OLIVIER took part in his first ultra trail in the Vercors with our brand-new trail 3Dflex range.
Here is his account: "This Ultra trail of the Vercors was a magnificent race, both in terms of organisation and the quality of the mountain landscapes we passed through, despite gruelling heat conditions (more than 50% of runners abandoned the race). I finished in a very encouraging 11th place in my first ultra, in 12h55'14''. This new Cimalp 3Dflex kit lived up to every promise: comfort, weight, breathability... and on top of that, it's "super stylish", which is a bonus! My full race report can be found here https://flo-trailer-pilat.jimdo.com/2014/09/08/mon-premier-ultra-ultra-trail-du-vercors/ and a full product test on my blog will be coming soon"
