sportswomen forced to launch jackpots to aim for the Olympic Games

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The only Frenchwoman to practice skeleton at a high level, Agathe Bessard, 22, dreams of becoming the first French to represent France in her discipline at the Olympic Winter Games. In a very expensive sport, she started a crowdfunding campaign to help her qualify. Before her, other sportswomen also had recourse to prize pools to finance their pre-Olympic season, in non-professional sports and little publicized but very expensive in terms of preparation and equipment.

To better prepare for the qualifying heats for the Beijing 2022 Games, Agathe Bessard chose to hire the services of a Latvian coach, Lelde Prideluna, who had participated in the last Winter Olympics. A sporty but costly choice for the young Savoyard, with a budget for a season that amounts to around € 85,000: “The support of my club is very important, my sponsors too, and my parents finance almost half of it”, she explains. The French Federation of Ice Sports (FFSG) also helps him, but has very limited means for skeleton. The National Sports Agency (ANS) does not pay her any subsidies for this discipline because the young sportswoman has not yet obtained results or medals in international competitions. “It’s up to us to prove to the federation that it must invest in us”, relativizes Agathe Bessard.

Like the skeletoner, speed skater Tifany Huot-Marchand launched a prize pool at the end of 2020. A short-track season costs her around € 15,000: “The boots, molded to our feet, cost around 2000 € a pair. We don’t remake them every year, but on the other hand the blades of the skates cost 500 € a pair and we change them about four times a year”. Unlike Agathe Bessard, she did not find any sponsors: “I have no financial partnerships but I am helped by the city of Belfort. Without her, I would have stopped skating for a long time. We only interest people during the Games, but outside of that, we is not widely publicized “, she regrets. And the postponement of the Tokyo Summer Games to 2021 was detrimental to athletes who participate in winter sports, as the sponsors only took an interest in them after the summer event, a year late.

Faced with the complicated costs to assume for non-professional sportswomen, who cannot work full time, Agathe Bessard and Tifany Huot-Marchand have decided to launch a kitty. Just like Camille Cabrol, who practices mogul skiing. But for the latter, a student in commercial relationship management and ski instructor in her spare time, the launch of this crowdfunding campaign was not easy: “We still have a good life, we do what we love, we travel. I didn’t want people to think that I wanted easy money. My entourage understands that high performance sport represents sacrifices, that it is expensive, but for others, it may seem unwelcome “.

Like Tifany Huot-Marchand, Camille Cabrol has benefited from the support of the Collectif des Sportives, which promotes women’s sport. “We already practice a little-known sport, and in addition we are girls, it is a little double the penalty for us. It is difficult to say that we are a woman, in a small discipline, and it does. that we have to launch a jackpot to achieve our goals, that’s a strong sign “, emphasizes the speed skater.

If the pot launched by Agathe Bessard is still online until November 23, those launched by Tifany Huot-Marchand and Camille Cabrol in 2020 have exceeded their expectations. The worker managed to collect just over € 6,000, once the platform fees were deducted. “I also managed to reach people and companies who would not have been interested in me otherwise and who have become sponsors”, she rejoices. This sum enabled him in particular to pay his contribution to the French Ski Federation, which amounts to € 4,000 per year, in exchange for the payment of all travel expenses and the provision of a trainer. . “It also allowed me to finance my mental trainer, a dietician, food supplements, physical preparation and recovery equipment”, she adds.

These are small details which, when accumulated, represent a big budget but can make the difference in competition.

Camille Cabrol

to franceinfo: sport

For her part, Tifany Huot-Marchand collected around € 3,000, which she invested in skating equipment, in her diet and in her mental preparation: “I’ve been followed by a mental trainer for four years, once a week. It’s a cost, but it’s clearly essential. Without it, I would have a hard time keeping my head above water.”, she assures.

In addition to financial peace, the prize pools have also brought serenity to these athletes. “It made me feel less dependent on my parents, who funded half of my season, and it relieved me in the sense that if I needed something for my performance, I had enough money to buy it, without compromising on anything else. It also allows you to focus more on the sporting aspect. “, testifies Camille Cabrol.

The hard worker also felt supported by strangers who agreed to help fund her season: “There was a lot of sharing and I take it really in a positive sense, without adding pressure to myself, but it makes you want to do well to show that they didn’t help me for nothing”. Tifany Huot-Marchand joins her: “To say that people support us, that makes a big difference. It gives an additional force”. A strength that will certainly serve them in the last qualifying heats for the Winter Games in Beijing, which take place until December for the short-track and until mid-January in mogul skiing and skeleton.


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