Press conference, weight cut, mental war… Here we are, on December 17.
There are 48 hours left.
It’s not long, but it can feel like an eternity.
This is no longer a dream.
No longer preparation.
This is the hard part.
The real thing.
The first battle to win.
The day starts like any other.
Routine.
Leila gets up, weighs herself, texts JF.
He comes over to prepare her breakfast.
Meanwhile, I do my own routine.
Activation.
Mental emptying.
Today, I listened to Mathieu Casavant.
Five kilometers of jogging along Miami Beach.
The sand. The salty air. The rhythm.
Just enough to silence the noise.
Photo: Matt Casavant / IG – Miami Beach
I get back.
Leila joins me at the gym for a light activation.
She arrives with JF… and JS.
Jean-Sébastien.
I said I’d come back to him.
A good-looking 29-year-old.
A financial planning entrepreneur. He has his own firm.
But above all: Leila’s partner for over six years.
People don’t realize how much JS is a full-time part of the team.
He supports.
He understands.
He reassures.
He motivates.
He listens.
He’s there in the good moments, but especially in the hard ones.
He’s her rock.
Her lighthouse.
They complement each other.
And I’m genuinely glad she ended up with a man like him.
Because Leila…
I like her a lot.
After the activation, Leila goes to eat.
Not much.
But she eats.
Then she settles by the pool.
Just to unplug.
Not for long—we don’t want her burning too much energy.
Then she goes back up to her room.
Makeup.
Preparation.
The press conference is coming.
Photo: Esther Lin / MVP – Alycia Baumgardner and Leïla Beaudoin
The press conference
The Fillmore Miami Beach / Jackie Gleason Theatre
The setting is grand.
Almost too grand.
A historic theater.
Red seats.
White spotlights.
A stage that has seen legends—and that tonight serves as an invisible ring.
The teams arrive.
Not together.
Never together.
Each camp sends its messages without speaking.
Posture.
Distance.
The stare that lingers… or looks away.
Everything is calculated.
Even the silence.
The final press conference isn’t an exchange.
It’s a frozen duel.
The journalists’ questions flow, but stay on the surface.
The real answers are elsewhere.
In a clenched jaw.
In a breath that’s too short.
In a gaze held half a second too long.
Some talk.
Others don’t.
Words matter.
But silences weigh more.
Photo: Esther Lin / MVP – Alycia Baumgardner and Leïla Beaudoin
When the microphones turn off, when the flashes stop, no one really smiles.
Because at the end of the day, there will only be two people in the ring.
After the conference: the weight cut
From that point on, time bends.
Food becomes an abstract idea.
Water, a dangerous obsession.
Every movement is measured.
Every step has a cost.
The fatigue isn’t spectacular.
It’s dull.
It settles into the shoulders, the hips, behind the eyes.
There’s no complaining.
Only discipline.
We speak little.
We breathe slowly.
We follow the plan.
No one reveals their methods.
But everyone recognizes the signs in the other.
That evening, Leila will do a single hot bath.
Then straight to her session with Roz.
The mental war starts here.
In accepting discomfort.
In refusing to give in to panic.
Sleep is important.
But not easy for everyone.
Leila, though, will sleep well.
The weight cut is going smoothly.
The rest will be done tomorrow.
There is only one objective left.
The number.
