An eventful month of June for Team ENGIE

Modern pentathlon - Elodie Clouvel: Vice-World Champion and qualified for Tokyo!

Last weekend, the Modern Pentathlon World Championships were held in Cairo, Egypt. The Championships were a qualifying event for the Olympic Games. Team ENGIE pentathlete, Elodie, won her ticket for Tokyo with a fantastic second place! In second place after the first three disciplines (fencing, swimming, show-jumping), Elodie set off behind Hungary’s Michelle Gulyas in the final event, a laser run, combining pistol-shooting and long-distance running. Elodie managed to catch her, but she couldn’t do anything against the incredible come-back by the Belarusian Anastasiya Prokopenko, who won the world title. 
Congratulations on your silver medal, Elodie!

“It’s been a difficult season for me, due to problems and injuries. But I’m in good form and the day went well. Now, I’m concentrating on the Games!”

A date for your diary. Elodie will be in action on 5 and 6 August.

Judo - Madeleine Malonga: Vice-World Champion (under-78 kg) in Budapest!

Madeleine, the World Champion judoka supported by the Group, was unable to keep the world title that she won in Tokyo in 2019 in the under-78 kg category. The 27-year old Frenchwoman was beaten by Germany’s Anna-Maria Wagner in Friday’s final, who managed to score a waza-ari after 52 seconds in the golden score.

More than one month before the games, it was a “small” disappointment for Madeleine, who was hoping for better things before the summer. But this defeat could also turn out to be a salutary warning, after utterly dominating the category for 2 years. But Madeleine still performed well, starting with a win against the Croatian Karla Prodan. She then went on to defeat Ukraine’s Anastasiya Turchyn, and the Dutch judoka Guusje Steenhuis. 
Well done Madeleine, and the best of luck this summer! Let’s hope you win the gold on 29 July.

Triathlon - Cassandre Beaugrand triumphs in Dunkirk

Three wins out of four starts in Dunkirk!

The first round of the 2021 Triathlon Grand Prix took place in Dunkirk, France last weekend. Cassandre Beaugrand, Team ENGIE’s triathlete, starred again by winning the individual event, thanks in particular to a very good run. Despite her win, her club from Poissy finished on the second step of the podium, behind Metz Triathlon. Bravo Cassandre. We will be cheering you on in Tokyo in the individual event on 27 July and in the mixed team event on 31 July.  

Kitesurf - Alex Caizergues, Axel Mazella and Poéma Newland

After several months without any competitions, the three Team ENGIE kite surfers are back in action! 

The first round of the 2021 ENGIE Kite Tour will kick off in Lorient-Gâvres from 18 to 20 June. The French kite surfing team will be joined by tens of amateurs in this first round of the competition. 

Here is a recap of dates of the 2021 ENGIE Kite Tour, in which our three kite surfers will compete.

• La Manche – La Hague (cancelled)
• Lorient-Gâvres (18 to 20 June)
• La Grande Motte (24 to 26 September)
• Arcachon (22 to 24 October)
• Marseilles (12 to 14 November)

Finally, this week saw an important development in the world of dinghy sailing, and of kite surfing in particular. The IOC announced that not one, but two, medals will be up for grabs at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where kite surfing will become an Olympic sport for the first time. One medal will be awarded to women, and one will be awarded to men, much to the delight of the competitors!

Surf - Pauline Ado will fly our colours

Pauline performed superbly at the World Championships and qualified for this summer’s games!

2017 World Champion, and still in the hunt for a second world title, Team ENGIE’s surfer, Pauline Ado, qualified for this summer’s games in early June. This means that the Basque surfer will represent France in the first edition of this discipline in the Olympics. She will join the three other French surfers who were already qualified: Jérémy Florès, Michel Bourez and Johanne Defay.
Despite a first-round elimination, Pauline gave it her all during the World championships, making it all the way to the eighth round of repechage and defeating the competition for the last place in the French team. Well done Pauline! 

“When Fernando Aguerre, Chairman of the International Surfing Association, came to announce the good news in person, it was unbelievable. The emotional pressure has been very strong, and it still is. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. It’s still very recent. I’m projecting myself a little bit, but it’s been such a long process, with such a challenging final week that it’s hard to relax right away.”