Overcoming Obstacles to the Olympics: VFL Clement Ducos’ Path to Paris

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — There’s two definitions of the word “hurdle.” There’s the one that applies to track and field: a barrier an athlete must jump over in a race. Former Tennessee star and French Olympian Clement Ducos knows all about those.

“There’s no effort for me to jump over hurdles,” said Ducos. “And that’s what I like. It doesn’t slow me down at all.”

Then, there’s the definition of hurdle that applies to life: overcoming an obstacle. Ducos, knows all about that too, and those types of hurdles don’t slow him down either.

“It was just very hard,” said Ducos. “I went through a lot.”

In his second season with the Vols, Ducos had a breakout season, setting multiple personal records. At the SEC championship, he was crowned the winner of the 400 meter hurdles, but was later disqualified for a lane infringement. Then at the NCAA championships, Ducos went down with a hamstring injury.

“We knew big things were on the horizon for him,” said Tennessee track and field coach Duane Ross. “But then here came those hurdles. Not just the physical hurdles, but the things that happen in life. Here came the injuries and things of that nature. You have to be resilient if you’re going to make a career at this, and he has that.”

So, Ducos wasn’t going to let those hurdles stop him. He came to Tennessee with one goal.

“He was bold enough to tell me during our first phone call he wanted to be an Olympian and he wanted to do big things,” said Ross.

He achieved that goal this summer at the Olympic Games in Paris, competing against the best in the world, in front of his home country.

“As soon as I put my foot on the track, people went crazy,” smiled Ducos. “They were screaming. It was crazy. I have no words to describe it.”

Ducos ended up finishing fourth in the 400 meter hurdles, just off the podium. However, that just gives him another hurdle to overcome.

“I wanted to have a medal during the final,” said Ducos. “I did all my best but I wasn’t enough, but I’ll be back stronger.”

Back in four years, he said, for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

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