Gregory Dupont, The Scientist Who Turns Madrid Players Into Machines

JAKARTA - When Zinedine Zidane lost faith in his fitness coach Antonio Pintus, he called Gregory Dupont. Without thinking, Dupont immediately left the French national team to join Real Madrid.

Even though it only arrived just before La Liga started, Dupont was still able to make Los Blancos players fitter than their competitors. This is a way of acknowledging the impact he has had on France's victory at the 2018 World Cup.

Known as 'The Scientist' in his profession - due to his hobby of researching training methods, the squad at Real Madrid called him 'McGregor'. He likes to stay behind the scenes and avoid the media, although he has also publicly stated the importance of data in his work.

Dupont defines himself as an investigator who bases his work on scientific facts.

"We can not prevent everything, but we can avoid mistakes, analyze the volume and intensity of work so that we can get the results and get the best from the athletes," he explained, reported Marca.

"I've always wanted to associate investigations with practice, a world that 15 years ago went their own way. You have to have the best systems of data and statistics and that is great work for that institution."

Dupont is a member of the UEFA team for injury prevention, working for the University Sport and Science at Liverpool and the French National Institute for Sport and Performance.

"He's the best in terms of individual work, athletics, nutrition, everything we call invisible work, everything that involves prevention, muscle building and data retention," said Guy Stephan, Didier Deschamps' number two confidant in the French national team.

Dupont also admits that he gets up at 5:30 a.m. every morning to cycle 35 to 40 kilometers a day in any weather to keep him fit.

How he shows devotion is also reflected in the way he rejected plans to move to Paris when Zidane called him to move