2024-07-17 13:20:08
For athletes it is a frustrating time. Before even participating in the Games, they have to spend long months, even years of preparation. In France, companies support elite athletes.
On the floor of a Parisian gym, forces are violent to bring the ball to the other side of the line. It is time for the last training sessions for the partner of the French team rugby chairman Cédric Nankin who trains twice a day “to be on top”.
In this last line before the Paralympic Games – they will take place from August 28 to September 8, 2024 – the defender of the French team has been released by his employer, SNCF. ” I was lucky because some of my colleagues, until recently, had to take time off to be able to compete. It’s a bit sad all the same, but it’s a reality. »
« I am on a valid contract, I have a salary at the end of the month, but there we ask some questions, at least not on the financial aspect, said Cédric Nankin. It takes the mind off the weight. »
Like Cédric Nankin, around thirty top athletes are employees of SNCF. When they are not training, they are engineers or conductors on trains. Laurent Guillemette, the club’s director of special sporting events explained: “The very athletic program has the sole purpose of supporting these athletes in their sporting career. »
“We continue to train them, giving them financial and social stability, a security net that allows them to focus completely on their competition. On the day they stop (their work), we will still be there. In total, 70% of athletes choose to stay in the company. »
Connecting businesses and athletes. This is also one of the missions of the Fondation du Sport Français with its “Pacte de Formance”. The program allows tax-free gifts of up to 60%. It has already attracted 600 patrons: VSEs, SMEs, and even house managers.
In this business center in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, Capital 8 donated 25,000 euros to the boxer Wassila Lkhadiri. Paul Joubert explains: “We love this woman: her courage, her strength. Above all, these athletes are helpless, they have no money and live in poverty while they have to focus on being the best in the world. We get nothing in exchange except maybe talking to each other, or meeting each other. »
This funding also allows housing companies to meet social inclusion goals. It is “win-win” summarizes the French Sports Association, which emphasizes: “ This support must continue well beyond the Olympic Games ».
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