De gauche à droite : Elodie Clouvel ©vincentbreton ; Emmanuelle Mörch ©emmanuelszendroi ; Pauline Ado ©riblanc ; Poema Newland ©sailingenergy ; Raphaël Beaugillet ©emmanuelszendroi ; Wilfried Happio ©vincentbreton ; Fabien Lamirault ©vincentbreton ; Pierre Le Coq ©riblanc ; Alexandre Caizergues ©ericbellande ; Axel Mazella ©sailingenergy ; Luka Mkheidze ©vincentbreton ; Madeleine Malonga ©florencegalabru
In the continuity of the Tokyo Games, ENGIE reaffirms its support for a dozen athletes in their preparation for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games which will take place in 2024.
Pierre Le Coq
RS:X and iQFoil windsurfing - ENGIE ambassador in Saint-Brieuc
2024 will see Pierre Le Coq retiring from his sport. After a career spanning nearly twenty years, the last eight of which have been supported by ENGIE, he has decided to stop. Brittany-born Pierre Le Coq will be remembered for his excellent sporting achievements, as well as for his commitment to his sport: it is about enjoying it first and foremost. World champion in 2015 and then bronze medal winner a year later in the 2016 Rio Olympics, Pierre also secured 15 international podium places in the RS :X windsurfing class. In 2017, the iQFoil class replaced the RS :X in the run-up to the next Olympics. The switch was too physically challenging given his size, so he has made the decision to stop before the deadline this coming summer.
Since 2015, Pierre Le Coq had been supported by the ENGIE Group as part of the first Performance Pact, something which enabled him to compete in two consecutive Olympiads: Rio and then Tokyo, where he just missed out on qualifying.
Pierre is now going to devote all his time to his family and his dental surgery patients.
Awards
- 2019
- 3rd in the RS :X Championship
- 2018
- Winner of the Hyères World Cup Series
- 2016
- Bronze medallist at the Olympic Games in Rio
- 2015
- World champion
Pauline Ado
Surfing - ENGIE ambassador in Biarritz/Anglet
Pauline Ado, 33, is one of France's surf leading figures in. She started surfing when she was eight years old in Hendaye, in southwestern France, and she joined the French youth teams at 13 years old. These beginnings saw a number of achievements at the Junior World Championships, where she won gold in 2006 and 2008. Three years later, she joined the exclusive circle of the WSL Championship Tour. In 2017, she competed with the national team in the ISA World Surfing Games, where she won gold in both the solo and team events.
Since 2021, Pauline qualified for Tokyo, for the first appearance at the Olympics. Unfortunately, she lost in the round of 16. With momentum on her side, the Team ENGIE surfer notched up the wins: vice world champion in 2022, and then vice European champion in 2023. Selected for French national team in the World Surfing Games, held in May 2023 in Salvador; she won a silver medal in the team event and finished in ninth place in the individual rankings. This summer, qualifying and then taking part in the competition are still her primary aims.
Pauline is a professional sportswoman, but she is also engaged in a number of causes. She became a Surf Rider ambassador, an association involved in protecting our oceans. Since 2009, Pauline has also been the sponsor of the Handi Surf association, her objective being to ensure that surfing is accessible to all people with disabilities.
Awards
- 2024
- 3rd at the Caparica Surf Fest in Portugal
- 2023
- European vice-champion
- 2nd at World Surfing games with French team
- 2022
- 2nd in the world championship
- 2021
- Participation in surfing’s first appearance at the Olympics
- World champion with French team
- 2017
- World champion
- 2006 et 2008
- Junior world champion
Élodie Clouvel
Modern pentathlon - ENGIE ambassador in Saint-Etienne
To this day, Elodie Clouvel, 35, is the first and only French athlete to have won an Olympic medal in her discipline. However, she began her sports career as a high-level swimmer. A member of Pole France at Font-Romeu, she then set about training with Philippe Lucas with one target in her sights: the Beijing Olympics (2008). Unqualified, Elodie then decided to focus her attention on the Modern Pentathlon, and joined INSEP. Her decision paid off: two seasons later, in 2011, she picked up her first medals: a gold in France and then a bronze in the finals of the World Cup.
Elodie continued her ascent and was crowned European vice champion in 2015, world vice champion and then Olympic vice champion in 2016. The podium place in the Rio Olympics was recognition for both this Team ENGIE athlete, and for the French pentathlon: it was the first time an Olympic medal had been won by a French athlete in the history of the sport. Following a number of challenging years, Elodie made her comeback in 2021 when she was crowned world vice champion – what she needed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Now, Elodie is focused on being picked for this summer and competing in her third – and most likely her last competition.
Outside of her sports career, Elodie is also a member of the Armée des Champions : promoted to captain in 2022, she is also a sponsor of the “Gendarmes de Cœur” association, which helps members of the gendarmerie affected by illness, disability or the loss of a loved one.
Awards
- 2023
- 2nd at the UIPM 2023 Pentathlon world cup in Cairo
- 2022
- 1st at the UIPM 2022 Pentathlon world cup
- 2021
- World vice-champion
- 6th in the Olympic Games in Tokyo
- 2016
- World vice-champion
- Olympic silver medalist at the Rio Games
- 2015
- 2nd in the European championship
Madeleine Malonga
Judo (- 78 kg) – ENGIE ambassador in Chambly
Madeleine Malonga, 30, first started judo at the local Chambly club, and then joined the INSEP (France's national institute of sport, expertise and performance) in 2010. In 2014, she won her first French championship title. In 2016, she joined the Etoile Sportive Blanc Mesnil judo club. Then two years later, she won her first European championship title in the team event. In 2019, she win the Grand Slam in Paris. She subsequently reached her highest level in August as a World Champion in Tokyo. With the support provided by Group, the judoka continued her work and began 2020 the same way as she began 2019 - with a victory at the Paris Grand Slam. She achieved international recognition, winning the European championship title. The following year, she was crowned world vice champion and then Olympic vice champion in the Tokyo Games, in the individual event. She also picked up a gold medal, winning the Olympic title with France's national team.
While continuing to train and compete, this young woman from Picardy also qualified as a mental and life coach in 2022, graduating from the HEC business school in Paris. This is part of Madeleine’s effort to prepare for life once her top-level sports career in behing her.
Madeleine’s focus is new on next summer: she will be trying to do even better than the silver she achieved in Tokyo Games.
Awards
- 2024
- 1st in the Antalya Grand Slam
- 3rd at Paris Grand Slam
- 2022
- 3rd at European championship
- 3rd at Paris Grand Slam
- 2021
- Olympic Champion in the mixed team event
- Olympic runner-up
- World vice-champion
- 2020
- European champion
- Paris Grand Slam winner
- 2019
- World champion in Tokyo and 2nd with French team
- 2018
- European champion
Luka Mkheidze
Judo (- 60 kg) – ENGIE ambassador in Le Havre
Luka Mkheidze, 28, has clearly emerged as the French number one in the under-60 kg category. Before securing this victory, Luka had to leave his native country, Georgia, at the age of 13, following the war with Russia. He arrived in France, in the Val-de-Marne, in 2010 with the help of a smuggler. He and his family were then sent to a home with other refugees in Le Havre. Both talented and motivated, he joined the Le Havre judo club and, as such, received help from mayor: Edouard Philippe, for obtaining French nationality in 2015. Brimming with potential, Luka’s sporting career was now ready to take off. After training at the Pôle Espoir de Rouen centre, the judoka joined the INSEP in 2017.
Since then, he has been a frequent visitor to podiums at a number of major international events. In 2021, following his bronze at the Tashkent Grand Slam, Luka was crowned European vice champion. This got him picked to represent France at the Tokyo Olympics. He came back from his first Olympics with the first French medal – a bronze. Unfortunately, Luka's upwards trajectory was ended by a cruciate knee ligament injury sustained during a training session with the national team. Following a long period of rehabilitation, he returned to the mats in early 2023. His return saw him picking up a gold medal at the Tel Aviv and Antalya Grand Slams, and then his first gold medal in the European Championships in Montpellier.
Selected for this summer, Luka kicked off 2024 by winning the Paris Grand Slam, and then a silver medal in Baku. A real opportunity to secure another medal on 27 July.
Awards
- 2024
- 2nd in the Antalya Grand Slam
- 2nd at Bakou Grand Slam
- 1st at Paris Grand Slam
- 2023
- European Champion
- 2021
- Bronze medal at the Olympics
- 2nd at the European Championships
Wilfried Happio
Athletics (400m hurdles) – ENGIE ambassador in Lille
Wilfried Happio, 25, is the French leader in 400-meters hurdler. In 2017, when he was only 20 years old, he was crowned Junior European Champion in the 400 m hurdles and European vice champion with the French national team in the 4x400 relays. In 2019, Wilfried moved up a category into the "young hopefuls" and again secured victory, retaining his European championship title. This earned him a place in his first Senior World Championships in Doha.
In 2021, he completed in his first Olympics and was knocked out in the semifinals. The following year, he won his first senior title: European vice champion. As proof of his meteoric progress, Wilfried finished 4th in this World Championship, two hundredths of a second from the podium. He once again beat his personal best with a time of 47''41, only four hundredths of a second off Stéphane Diagana's French record, the second best French performance of all time.
In 2023, the Team ENGIE athlete was crowned elite French champion for the fifth year in a row. Selected for the world Championships, he was knocked out just before the finals… but he caught up very quickly and finished fifth in the Diamond League finals. Wilfried is going to go all out to win a medal this summer.
Awards
- 2023
- 5th in the Diamond League finals
- 2022
- European vice-champion in Munich
- 4th at the World championship
- 2021
- Participation in the Tokyo Olympic Game
- 2019
- U23 European championship
- 2017
- U20 European champion (400m hurdles)
- U20 European vice-champion (4x400m)
Five time French championship (2019 to 2023)
Fabien Lamirault
Para table tennis – ENGIE ambassador in Marseille
Fabien Lamirault, 44, is France's number one para table tennis player with six Paralympic medals to his name (including four golds). At 17, he became a quadriplegic following a car accident. Athletic by nature, he discovers table tennis while in rehabilitation. Fabien very quickly found his calling: once his rehabilitation was over, he joined the CSINI (Cercle Sportif de l'Institution Nationale des Invalides de Paris) where he met his current coach, Fabrice Kosiak. He took part in his first international competition in Sicily in 2003. Categorised in class 2, his Paralympic adventure began in 2012 at the London Games, where he won a bronze medal in singles and a silver medal in doubles.
From that moment on, Fabien was on the road to success: double World Champion in 2014, then double European Champion in 2015. The following year, the Rio Games saw him become the double Paralympic Champion, where he won both the individual competition and the team event. Selected for Tokyo, the Team ENGIE athlete retained both titles in the individual competition and in the team event! In 2022 Fabien won gold at the world Championships. In 2023, he won two more medals in the singles and doubles events in the European Championships.
This year, for his third consecutive edition, he will attempt to retain both titles. This would most likely earn him a place in the pantheon of French sport.
Awards
- 2024
- 1st in the ITTF Polish Para Open
- 2023
- European vice-champion in single
- European champion in seated mixed doubles
- 2022
- Individual world champion
- 2021
- Double paralympic champion in Tokyo (singles and team)
- 2019
- Double European champion (singles and doubles)
- 2018
- Individual world champion
- 2017
- World bronze medalist in doubles
- 2016
- Double paralympic champion in Rio (singles and team)
- 2015
- Double European champion (singles and doubles)
- 2014
- Double world champion (singles and doubles)
- 2013
- European champion in doubles
- 2012
- Bronze medal in singles and silver medal in doubles at the Paralympics in London
- 2011
- European vice-champion in doubles
Axel Mazella
Kiteboarding – ENGIE ambassador in Toulon
Axel Mazella, 26, is from Toulon and is a member of the France Kite surfing team. Alongside his career as a top-level athlete, Axel graduated as a physiotherapist. He is currently French number one and has an impressive number of wins under his belt : four-time European champion (2019, 2020, 2021 and 2024) and three-time winner of the kitefoil gold cup (2017, 2019, 2021). Before ramping up his performance, Axel made his mark on the ENGIE Kite Tour on the French speed crossing circuit, that he has won three times.
2023 saw a number of wins for the Team ENGIE athlete, including a bronze medal in the World Championships, then second place in the Mediterranean Games and a victory at the Marseille Test Event
In 2024, Axel Mazella won his fourth European championship title – a staggering performance given the knee ligament injury that he suffered in early January. This allows him to qualify for July.
Awards
- 2024
- European champion
- 2023
- Winner on Test Event
- 3rd at the World cup in Palma de Malloca
- 2022
- 2nd at the ENGIE Kite Tour
- 2021
- Winner of the kitefoil gold cup
- European champion
- Vice-world champion
- 2020
- European champion
- 2019
- European champion
- Winner of the kitefoil gold cup
- 2017
- Winner of the kitefoil gold cup
- Vice-world champion
Third time winner of the ENGIE Kite Tour (2019, 2020, 2021)
Raphaël Beaugillet
Tandem track cycling – ENGIE ambassador in Blois
Raphaël Beaugillet, 34, gradually began losing his sight at the age of 20 due to a genetic disease that put an end his ability to work. He then turned his attention to tandem track cycling and his efforts paid off: he won a total of 30 French titles. In 2020, Raphaël took on the challenge of participating in the Tokyo Paralympic Games in the kilometre standing start. In tandem with François Pervis, he won a medal in the standing-start kilometre event. The French pair completed the four laps of the track in 1’00‘’472, at an average speed of almost 60 kph, setting a new personal best. It was a great Paralympic debut for Raphaël, and a fantastic way for François Pervis.
Now, Raphaël is aiming for a medal this summer with his new pilot Quentin Caleyron. A promising collaboration which has already yielded four new French championship titles and a third place in the 2023 Mondiaux in the speed trial. The next Mondiaux in March in Rio will determine whether he qualifies for this summer.
Awards
- The Tandem's achievements with Quentin Caleyron in 2024
- 2nd at the World Championships (sprint)
- 4th at the World Championships (kilometre)
- Victory at the French Championships
- The Tandem's achievements with Quentin Caleyron in 2023
- 3rd at the world championship
- The tandem’s achievements with Quentin Caleyron in 2022
- 4th in the Mondiaux (kilometre and speed)
- The tandem’s achievements with François Pervis in 2021
- Bronze medals at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in the standing-start kilometre
30 French Championship titles
Poema Newland
Kiteboarding – ENGIE ambassador in Leucate/Narbonne
Poema Newland 23, is from Narbonne and is a member of France's women's kite surfing team. When she started kite surfing in 2015, she quickly established herself as a promising young athlete on the French kite surfing scene. Three years later, she won a silver medal in the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires (Argentina).
For many years now, Poema has been climbing up through the ranks on the ENGIE Kite Tour – the leading French speed crossing event – a treat to cross paths with her again in the stages of the 2024 edition. At the same time, she regularly takes part in and performs at major international competitions, her wins in 2021 included the European Championships and the World Cup.
In 2023, she finished third in the World Cup in Palma (Majorca), and then secured a victory a few months after the Mediterranean Games in kiteboarding. At the end of September, she won third place in the European Kitefoiling Championships, and then in October won the French Open Kitefoiling Championships in Leucate.
Poema Newland takes a third place at the European Championship just behind two other French athletes: Lauriane Nolot and Jessie Kapman. Three French people in the top three is evidence of the national team's excellence. They have chosen one person to represent France this summer : Lauriane Nolot
Awards
- 2023
- 3rd at the World cup in Palma de Mallorca
- 2021
- European formula kite champion
- Winner of the kitefoil gold cup
- 2018
- Vice-champion in the Olympic Youth Games
Alex Caizergues
Kiteboarding – ENGIE ambassador in Marseille
At 45 years old, Alex Caizergues is the fastest kiteboarder in the world and has picked up numerous medals, including world speed champion in 2007, 2008 and 2009… and then a kitesurfer medal in 2017. Alex has been a member of the French national team for many years and is the most decorated French kitesurfer. He has secured several victories on the ENGIE Kite Tour and is the only athlete in the Team not vying for a place in the Paris Games.
Alex has also held the world kitesurfing speed record since 2017 – that was the year when he covered 500 m on his board at an average speed of 107.36 km/h.
His pursuit of the world record has become a joint project – pushing the technical limits even further. The result was the creation of start-up company Syroco – a reference to the famous Saharan wind (the Sirocco). Its aim is to shatter the world sailing speed record. The bar has been set at 150 km/h. To achieve this, Alex has put together a whole technical team for his sports endeavours, but also to ensure that these innovations benefit other areas – supporting the energy transition in particular.
Awards
- 2017
- World champion kitespeed
- World recordman in kitespeed : 107 km/h
- 2013
- World record kitespeed record holder
- 2010
- World record all categories record holder
- 2009
- World kitesurfing record holder
- World champion kitespeed
- 2008
- World all categories record holder
- World champion kitespeed
- 2007
- World kitesurfing record holder
- World champion kitespeed
Emmanuelle Mörch
Wheelchair Tennis – ENGIE ambassador in Marseille
Emmanuelle Mörch, 33, is France's number two wheelchair tennis player. She became paraplegic when she was 18 years old after a snowboarding accident. Emmanuelle then embraced a double challenge: she began her career as a top-level athlete and at the same time started at the Centrale Paris engineering school. She graduated in 2015 and was then able to focus fully on wheelchair tennis, her sights set on the Rio Paralympic Games. She finished in 17th place in the women's singles and doubles. After those Olympics, she put her tennis career on hold and joined L’Oréal as a marketing project manager.
Then in 2019, she resumed her quest for the Olympic Grail. Her experience in the Tokyo Paralympic Games ended in exactly the same way as in Rio: she finished in 17th place. She's not giving up and she is pulling out all the stops to make a success of the next Paralympic Games. In 2023, Emmanuelle Mörch competed in the French Open (singles and doubles). She partnered with Pauline Déroulède and together they reached the semifinals.
Needless to say, being selected for her third competition this summer is her primary objective.
Alongside her tennis career, she has also been seen on screen. In 2018, she went up against Alexandra Lamy in a wheelchair tennis match in the film “Tout le monde debout” (Rolling to You). Actress to change the way people view disability.
Awards
- 2024
- N°2 french
- N°25 world
- 2023
- Semifinals in the French Open doubles
- 2021
- Tokyo Paralympic Games – she was knocked out before the quarter-finals
- 2016
- Rio Paralympic Games – she was knocked out before the quarter-finals