Fabrice Lapierre into Rio Olympics long jump final after being picked up by legendary coach Dan Pfaff

FABRICE Lapierre just made the Rio long jump final and has long been touted for an Olympic medal, yet had all but quit the sport after London 2012 - until a guru fixed him up.

Australia's Fabrice Lapierre competes in a qualifying round of the men's long jump.

FABRICE Lapierre had all but given up on his sport, more interested in winning games of FIFA on the couch than doing the murderous work an Olympic athlete must do.

Now, says his Australian national team coach, Lapierre is a “warrior” once more. And his personal coach believes the long jumper, once ‘beat down’, is ‘intrigued with flying’ once again.

On Sunday (9.53am AEST), Lapierre, 32, will aim to do what he many believe he should have already done and claim an Olympic Games medal

The 2015 world championship silver medallist qualified eighth into the final with a 7.96m effort on the opening night of competition. Joining him in the 12-man final was Aussie Henry Frayne, who jumped 8.01m

The qualification, as expected, continued a strong late career bloom from Lapierre, who made his Olympic debut in 2008 but missed London with a hamstring injury - then completely lost his motivation for the sport.

“I knew inside I could have gone out there and won a medal that year,” Lapierre tells Fox Sports Australia. “I knew it 100 percent. I was really upset and depressed and after I saw the results and knew I could have won a medal so it took me some time to fall back in love with the sport. I really didn’t care about athletics anymore.

Australia's Fabrice Lapierre competes in qualifying at the Rio Olympics.

“I didn’t train for three or five months. I’d sit there on the couch playing FIFA. And that went for a couple of years. Going into 2014, Commonwealth Games year, and honestly I didn’t want to do track and field. I would train randomly by myself, I had no coach, I just did whatever I wanted to do here and there and got fourth that year with basically no training.”

That result at least flicked a switch for a guy who had been so fiercely competitive.

He sought out Dan Pfaff, the legendary Arizona-based track and field coach with the Altis group.

“He’s very blunt and to the point - told me what I was doing wrong, told me what I needed to do,” said Lapierre. “He kind of made me feel, ‘Wow I’m doing everything wrong, my whole life is wrong right now’.

“But he got me back on track, changed my life and I fell back in love with the sport, which was a major issue for me.

“I woke up wanting to go training and that changed everything in my life.”

Lapierre is right - Pfaff is blunt.

“Psychologically he was pretty beat down,” Pfaff tells Fox Sports Australia, “and he probably didn’t do normal training the first six months.

“We had a lot of therapeutic and rehab issues we had to cross before we could even train in a consistent manner that you’d expect from a guy at that level.

Australia's Fabrice Lapierre has made the Rio Olympics long jump final.

“When he came to us at Altis he was at a crossroads and knew he needed to make some big changes.

“We’re in the business of inheriting people. Most of the athletes who come to the centre come for reasons. We do our homework and if we think they’re a good fit and good fit for the group it’s an open door policy.

“We had some fundamental chats and emails. I talked to his university coach at length about what was going on and why. The situation he’s in is quite common. Once kids get out of university or club settings and try the lone wolf approach, usually they have a lot of the same problems and issues.”

Lapierre is quiet and intense. Or, as Pfaff puts it: “Fab is not very emotional or expressive. I’m still trying to work out his body language because he’s sure not going to talk about things.”

Craig Hilliard, Australia’s national coach, says “he’s a warrior”.

“He probably should have had an Olympic medal around his neck before now, he’s that talented,” says Hilliard. “He lost his way there a bit and he’s the first to admit that. Injuries at key moments ahead of big championships as well have hurt his career but at the same time he’s achieved a lot in that career.

“The key thing is he’s in a stable training environment with good routines and I’ve never seen him so fiercely determined and switched on as he is.”

Australia's Fabrice Lapierre lands after a long jump attempt.

“A warrior? That’s a good way of putting it,” says Lapierre. “I like to fight for things. If something has been taken away I’m going to go out there and try and get it.

“My whole career, I don’t know how many times I’ve won competitions on my last jump. I’m known for that and like being in that position.”

Lapierre won the world indoors and Commonwealth Games in 2010 and in the past year has silver medals at the world outdoor and indoor championships.

Coming second he says, “Oh, it hurts. It hurts a lot.

“When I got second by one centimetre at the world indoors it hurt, it sucked.”

“He’s very competitive even though he‘s a laid back guy,” says Pfaff. “He loves the stage. When you put him in a big arena with the guys he lights up. Even though he’s a kind of introvert he really likes performing on the big stage. And I think he’s intrigued with flying. He just loves hurtling down the runway and seeing how far he’s going to go.”

Pfaff has restructured Lapierre’s technique, helped make him quicker and more efficiently convert his running power into distance in the air.

But much more besides.

“I feel like a whole different person. I wake up every day with a purpose and every day I am ticking the boxes towards a goal. Every day is really exciting and I can’t wait to be out there and jump,” Lapierre says.

Originally published as Fabrice Lapierre into Rio Olympics long jump final after being picked up by legendary coach Dan Pfaff