2023-10-18 18:23:11
« (…) To this question that tightens my body/How long will I have to carry this burden again/Now/I answer/You were a little girl/You were a victim/You are not the guilty one (…). » This ellipsis evoking sexual abuse and published on October 10 on the Instagram account of sailor Mathilde de Kerangat, 2009 junior world champion in Laser Radial and 21st in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, caused a stir around the world sailing.
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Is the testimony of the 32-year-old young woman aimed at breaking the “omerta” in this environment? A phenomenon denounced – two weeks earlier – by a small group of offshore racing players in an “open letter” published by the media Sails and Sailboatssupported by the launch of a petition on the Change.org platform, with nearly 2,000 signatures to date?
” It’s a coincidence, reestablished Mathilde de Kerangat, on October 17, in the café of the old port of La Rochelle, during an interview with The world. I was not aware of this petition, I have never suffered an attack of any kind in sailing, and I am not aware of such cases in this environment. »
The facts mentioned by this young solar woman took place “ between 1998 to 2002 “, when she had “ between 7 and 11 years old “, and she attributes them unequivocally to the nearly sixty-year-old volunteer coach at the athletics school she attended at the time, while already practicing sailing.
“I was living in apnea”
From her entry into sailing sports studies in 6th grade until 2021, La Rochelaise followed a precise curriculum for an Olympic hopeful with a gift for studies. Regattas on all the seas around the globe, academic success crowned by a master’s degree in sports law, a busy social life… But beneath his clear gaze and his charming smile was always hidden a “ inexplicable discomfort “, she says.
“I was living in apnea, unable to experience true joy, to enjoy recovery periods and vacations”, she remembers. Blockages perceived by her loved ones, coaches and mental trainers, of which she “defends”preferring “keep your head on the handlebars”. “On my boat, I had moments of absence. Beyond the deconcentration, I was simply no longer there…”
In 2020, she dedicated herself to finishing her studies, fell in love with running and lost 15 kilos. In spring 2021, she reboarded, but in mixed 470 – a new discipline on the program for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. She and her teammate Sidoine Dantès threw in the towel six months later. “We were progressing, but not fast enough to hope for selection”she describes.
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