Tuesday February 27, under the leadership of the Canadian Embassy in Paris, women's sport was at the heart of the discussions.
Athletes and committed personalities open the debate to discuss the obstacles, the strengths and the taboos linked to women's sporting practice.
An observation which had already been made by the Council on the Status of Women of Quebec in its study published in November 2022 entitled
“Women and sport, findings and issues”
.
To discover
FILE - The Sports Business Observatory
It was with great passion and the desire to convey a strong message that the participants in the round table spoke.
As fighters.
In women.
Sarah Ourahmoune, medalist boxer at the Rio Olympics who became an institutional personality in the sports movement, entrepreneur and who returned to a journey that taught her to take the steps and always move forward.
From her early days as an athlete, at a very young age, she remembers the desire to exercise and perform over time.
The participants expressed themselves with great passion and will.
Canadian Embassy, MediaSpoliS
Prejudices
These shared memories, the difficulties encountered and the obstacles of a sport, Boxing, which carries harsh prejudices will not get the better of her determination to build and today to transmit in particular with Boxer Inside which she has founded 13 years ago, without forgetting the
“Les Puncheuses” program,
which leaves an indelible mark on many courses stemming from diversity in particular.
Yes to diversity and equality but without forgetting diversity.
Let everyone be heard and represented.
The Francilienne is one of the best ambassadors for a women's sport open to the world and which moves, shakes up society.
And indeed, this journey around the world continues with the moving testimony of Laurence Fisher.
Although karate was not her first love, she, who loved theater and the boards so much, began to take up more and more space at the age of 12, with today an extraordinary track record.
With time, institutional functions and field commitment, she learns to convince and insist.
By creating Fight for Dignity, she stands alongside these women who have been tried to silence and who, through sport, are reclaiming their bodies and confidence.
A speech full of humility and simplicity but with so much strength and passion in the voice.
The Council on the Status of Women conducted a study entitled “Women and sport”.
Canadian Embassy, MediaSpoliS
Link to the study: Etude-Femmes-et-sport.pdf (gouv.qc.ca)
Voices raised on the field and everywhere around
Fabiola Forteza speaks with that accent that we love so much and a certain determination to fight against the brakes that are so unfair when you are at a high level.
These repeated injuries for the international player, selected in particular for the Rugby World Cup in 2022 and reigning French champion with the Bordeaux stadium.
A passionate and committed champion who will be one of those who broke the silence and filed a complaint with the national team with the Canadian rugby authorities to denounce a climate of harassment, psychological violence and intimidation.
The investigation will lead to the head coach's resignation in April 2021.
“
Dare and gain confidence
,” swears Allison Sandmeyer-Graves.
Canadian Embassy, MediaSpoliS
Since then, the one who excels and shines on the planet Ovalie has shared her experience and candidly discusses the injuries and failures linked to a tired body and to a framework or mentalities which do not sufficiently adapt to the specificities of the female body.
If she had a magic wand, she would try to suffer less.
Finally Allison Sandmeyer-Graves, General Director of
“
Canadian Women&Sport
”
whose objective is to promote and position equitable and inclusive sport and physical activity for girls and women in Canada, insists:
“Yes, sport changes lives but we, women, we are also changing sport and that is very important.
Dare and gain confidence.”
And it is a beautiful conclusion shared by the Ambassador, the honorable Stéphane Dion, who was very attentive to the rich exchanges with the audience and which made it possible to emphasize the essential role that women play – that they be athletes, politicians, journalists, entrepreneurs or activists – to make sport a lever for cohesion and the defense of human rights but also through all these voices, the opportunity to change the world and the vision we can have of it to push the limits, break the codes and achieve the essential: no barrier is insurmountable.