“It is a source of pride to have been chosen in this program which will help us to progress.“, enthuses Kaylann Baldé. At only 15 years old, this basketball player from Villemomble recently joined ASVL Lyon-Villeurbanne, which plays in the elite of the French championship. He was also taken to the Pôle France at Insep (National Institute of Sport). From the top of his 2.06 meters and behind a certain bonhomie, borrows from humility, he already dreams of an international career and necessarily of the American championship, the NBA. “For the 2024 Olympics it will be too early, but I have 2028 in my sights“, he confides mischievously.
Like 15 other high-level athletes from Seine-Saint-Denis, Kaylann Baldé made the trip on Friday evening for the presentation of the new “Génération Jeux” promotion launched by the department. A total of 35 athletes from twelve disciplines were selected.
3,000 euros per club year for each athlete
The purpose of the device is toallow young athletes to focus on their practice by limiting their material constraints“, indicates the county council. In concrete terms, this financial aid amounts to 3,000 euros per year which is paid to the winner’s club. Beyond the practice of sport, it also aims to facilitate their academic or professional training.
“This help is an opportunity“, confirms Mathias Anglionin, currently at Red Star Montreuil judo. “It will allow me to have more equipment, whether food supplements or equipment for training..” Double French junior champion, French cadet champion in 2019, this rising star of French judo won the gold medal of the French junior championship under 100 kg in 2022. While studying in the first year of right, he is seriously preparing for the 2024 Olympics.”I have my card to play because there is not really a leader in my category of less than 100 kg“, he points out. However, Mathias Anglionin arrived at judo through football. “It was my trainer in Pantin who discovered in me the qualities of judoka and who oriented me towards this sport.“, he says.
“We often repeat it but it is a reality: Seine-Saint-Denis has talents, especially in sport“, underlines Zaïnaba Saïd Anzum, departmental adviser in charge of sports. “What we try to do is to support young athletes in an age group [ndlr, 13-21 ans à l’entrée du dispositif] qui is, in fact, the least accompanied. Apart from these young people need to be valued. When we created the device, in view of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, we wanted to show that sport can take you far and that these top athletes, trained in Seine-Saint-Denis, can embody role models for our children..”
Of pride and sacrifice
“For me, being in this selection is a source of pride, it gives confidence“, underlines all smiles Cassandra Meyeur-Mourot, of Tremblay AC taekwondo. With her title of champion of France 2022 (cadet category -59kg), the 14-year-old girl is now aiming for an international career and the Olympic Games of 2028. “I started taekwondo at six years old watching my sister practice it. It’s the beauty of this sport and its lightness that attracted me: it’s like a dance!“
“Cassandra, like her sister, took a liking to competition. She has already participated in the European championship in Malta, then in the world championship in Bulgaria. For us parents, it’s not easy. For her, it’s a lot of sacrifices and you can’t follow them everywhere. But we trust“, blows his father who accompanied him Friday evening to Miriam Makeba college.
Ranked 6th in the world in para-taekwendo in the under 65 kg category, Djelika Diallo intends, at the age of 18, to represent France at the Paralympic Games in Paris. With two training sessions a day at Insep, this Spinassian who cut her teeth at the Dugny taekwendo club, is also pursuing a professional baccalaureate in commerce. But nothing predestined her for this meteoric rise. “I was spotted five years ago during an initiation to this discipline when I did not do any sport until then. I hope to go as far as possible because I love fighting!”
