A centre’s mantra: learning from and with each other

The Centre Régional Jeunesse et Sport Petit-Couronne lies close to Rouen in north-western France, two hours from Paris.

In addition to the 115 young athletes aged 12 to 18 from all around France who live, go to school and train there, it counts roughly a dozen Olympic Solidarity Scholarship-holders from African nations such as Guinea-Bissau, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo and Niger.

Why ?

Why does – why would – a training centre in Western Europe not only invest in but fully welcome athletes from developing countries without such infrastructure and technical know-how?

The answer: learning from each other within the Olympic Movement is a way, perhaps the key, to develop sport everywhere. And not just in developing nations. But in developed countries, too.

“The fact that we started welcoming Olympic Solidarity athletes made a great change,” said Christophe Cornilleau, the Centre’s director for the past six years. “It gave an international dimension to the Centre – which was until then very, very French.”

Eighteen Scholarship-holders were preparing for Tokyo in Petit-Couronne. Because of the pandemic and the postponement of the Games, they were offered the opportunity to spend an extra year at the Centre – meaning, in all, they would spend three years there. Some had family back in their home country, including spouses and children. Of the 18, only one opted to leave.

Cornilleau said, “In the Centre, whether you’re from Congo or Marseille doesn’t make any difference. When they look at each other, they see a tennis player, a judoka, a sprinter. They see an athlete, nothing else. This is why it works, why Olympic Solidarity scholarship-holders integrate so easily.”

Worldwide, for Paris 2024, by the end of 2022, Olympic Solidarity had allocated 1,201 Scholarships, to 637 men and 528 women, representing 150 NOCs. The total budget is nearly USD 33 million. The stay of Olympic Solidarity Scholarship-holders in Petit-Couronne is fully covered by Olympic Solidarity.

For such Scholarship-holders, of course, the chance to live and train at a place such as the Centre marks a unique opportunity that likely would not happen in any other context, and definitely not in their home countries, which sometimes even lack the most basic facilities to train. Cornilleau welcomed a swimmer from Guinea who had never before had swimming trunks or even been swimming in a pool – he had grown up next to a river. Not to mention access to tailored training plans, medical facilities, state-of-the-art expert knowledge about nutrition or post-injury recovery or training.

The Centre’s standout: Natacha Ngoye Akamabi, Scholarship-holder and sprinter from the Republic of Congo.

In Tokyo, she ran in the morning preliminary round – and blazed to a season-best 11.47.

In the afternoon in Round 1, in Heat 6, she ran 11.52, sixth of seven, not enough to move on.

In an interview given to Congolese media right after her competition in Tokyo, she said: “To the International Federation, the Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sport: I’m capable of doing better. I want to do more competitions in order to improve myself and feel more comfortable. The level here is not the same as in Congo.”

That was 2021. Now her focus is not just making it to Paris but – a higher level.

Her coach, Amadou Mbaye, said, “Natacha today has made great progress in the management of her competitions.” At the Centre, “She is freed of all her problems, whether financial or organisational. For her, the framework suits her perfectly because everyone is mobilised to allow her to progress and achieve great performances.

“She keeps telling me,” he said, “that’s what she needed to progress.”