More than 200 selections with the Blues, a slew of successes, a club career in the best championships in the world concluded with a title of French champion with the MHSC VB and last two years of beach volleyball until the Olympics, the volleyball player Montpellier has just drawn a line under an exceptional sporting career.
Why did you decide to retire from sport at 34?
The last two years of beach volleyball with the Olympic project were enriching but also energy-consuming. After the Olympic Games, I needed to take a breather for a few months. I realized that I have rarely felt so good about myself, I feel a form of lightness, of well-being which marks the end of my sporting career and reveals the beginning of my second life.
Would the kid born in Montpellier have imagined knowing such a rich history?
Everything happened very quickly. I dreamed of this journey but I never would have imagined it. Becoming a pro, the first selection with the French team, the trophies… And finishing with this title of 2022 French champion with Montpellier and participation in the Olympic Games in beach volleyball in Paris, I feel like a privileged one.
What do you remember about your volleyball career?
It was incomparably rich. I had experiences abroad, with the Blues… It was the French team that allowed us to move abroad, to play in the best championships. We had to make sacrifices to go alone to Poland or China but it was a surreal human adventure.
Do you particularly remember one or more moments?
In 2013, with the France team, we won two Nations League matches in Brazil, revealing successes, this is the moment when this famous Team Yavbou was born. We realized what we were capable of doing. I also remember the European Championship in France with matches in Montpellier in 2019, a culmination for me, the period when I played my best volleyball. And then, once again, becoming French champion in Montpellier and the Olympic Games are moments apart. Without forgetting the medal on a stage of the world beach volleyball circuit, an important moment.
Considering your jovial personality, haven't the human adventures been the most important?
Thanks to my career, I have made friends. I think I gave a good image of myself, that people see me as someone happy, sincere, honest, someone approachable, humble who has never cheated. It's an image that I always wanted to give with joy, humor, lightness.
France
