Sailing: the “Mama Team” wins Bronze!

Charline Picon and Sarah Steyaert, two athletes supported by Banque Populaire ACA, win bronze medals in Marseille in the 49erFX, a challenge full of surprises!
An extraordinary challenge

An extraordinary challenge

The “Mama Team” – Charline Picon (39) and Sarah Steyaert (37), both supported by Banque Populaire Aquitaine Centre Atlantique and, in Charline’s case, a long relationship going back all the way to 2014 – didn’t want to leave the limelight of the Club France stage on the evening of August 4! Together, Charline and Sarah set this sanctuary of the French sporting community ablaze, a venue which, in the space of just two weeks, has become the ‘must-be’ space for French medalists. This enthusiastic meeting with their public will forever remain engraved in their memories coming, as it does, after what were at times moments of great difficulty.

Charline Picon was already a major figure in the windsurfing community: 8^th in in the 2012 London Olympics competing in the RS:X class, an Olympic champion in Rio, and silver medalist in Tokyo. After her discipline was dropped from the Olympic program, she could simply have gone into well-deserved retirement. But she had the incredible idea of setting herself a new Olympic challenge: to compete in the 49erFX category. A crazy gamble, considering that this would mean starting a new discipline in the hope of becoming a top performer in less than three years!

What made the challenge even more daunting was the fact that Charline, already the mother of one child, asked her friend Sarah – a mother of two, 5^th in the Laser Radial event at Beijing 2008, 16^th in London, 7^th in Rio and, since then, retired from sport and pursuing a career as a school teacher – to join her in this project. At first, she felt it was a crazy dream, almost like a late-night wager, but within ten minutes, Sarah sent back a message to say OK.

At the time, and even a few months ago, very few people thought they could do it. They themselves had moments of doubt. But not the Federation, which selected them on the basis of their results. The immensity of the task ahead of them – or, to be more precise, the immensity of the dual tasks – was clear to everyone: creating a team with an athlete who was coming out of retirement to compete once again, and another who was learning a new discipline, while simultaneously continuing to look after their children, even if their spouses were there to help.

A 100% “mother’s” boat

The advantage of both being mothers on the same boat was that each understood the other one when faced with problems in organization. “We’re both mothers,” explains Charline, “and Sarah knew that I had an Olympic background as a mother, so we were faced with the same difficulties, such as not being able to travel long distances. If one was having problems at home, the other understood what it was like.” That’s the “Mama Team,” as they call themselves! And what could have been perceived as a weakness gradually grew into a strength, an asset in their drive to conquer their medal.

An extraordinary marriage proposal

This bronze medal was the first of Paris 2024 for the French sailing team, and the 28^th for the French delegation as a whole. The joy was matched by a incredible surprise when Charline and Sarah received marriage proposals from their respective partners at the foot of the podium in Marseille!

Generally speaking, a great many women and mothers will be winning medals at these Games. What used to be exceptional is becoming less so, and women are integrating motherhood into their careers as elite athletes. And, little by little, the federations and event organizers are doing the same. You can even find a crèche in the Olympic Village!

The “Mama Team” medal will inevitably help elite sportswomen in what remains an uphill struggle. It will open up new horizons for other young women who will be able to say to themselves: “It can be done because Charline and Sarah have already done it!”

To learn more about which athletes, para athletes, and teams supported by Groupe BPCE companies are present at Paris 2024