With fifty-two podiums (against thirty-eight last year), the young generation seized the opportunity of an international experience this weekend during the French Ecopen. Three victories in cadets for Mehdi Lemoudda (-53kg), Nassim Miguel (-57kg), Aymen Boumediene (-61kg), four in cadets thanks to Yasmine Boutahar (-37kg), Sadio Caumont (-41kg), Aida Toure (-55kg) and Rayhanna Mediouni (-59kg). And finally two gold medals* in the junior men for Essalmi Ayoub (-73kg) and Nahil Mehnana (-78kg).

In the junior category, with 71 participants from clubs and seven from the French poles (three from Strasbourg, four from Aix), this 2005-2006-2007 junior generation won 22 medals, with one third of the medallists coming from the poles and 37% of them already being monitored by the PAHN. We went to meet Essalmi Ayoub and Nahil Mehnana's coaches in order to understand how performance structures a career and what competition is for. Words that can resonate even in our clubs to accompany our young people.

Strong core and social role

Essalmi Ayoub (-73kg), who passed through the Clichoise Academy of Taekwondo, arrived at the Taekwondo School Trappes, a club with nearly four hundred members, a few weeks ago. Jaoud Chouba saw a young fighter full of potential that first had to be channeled."He has a technical base, a huge desire and it is a question of building something tactically that will allow him to reveal his qualities and exploit them to the full,says the coach. With a Spaniard in the first round, a Canadian in the second and especially the Greek Vailezoudis in the semi-final, he had to use his taekwondo well, before going to get this gold medal against another Frenchman whose trajectory and qualities are well known(Uggo Barruol, winner in the cadet category in the lower category last year, NDLR).Essalmi has really started training again recently, he was left with a competition that did not go well at the Montargis Open and it is therefore a very good benchmark for him to finish as the winner of this French Ecopen, one of his last competitions as a junior, as he will move up to senior in January. This approach of the competition should help us to work on this transition of age category which we know is not easy. He knows that he can count on the opposition that we have at the club, with many athletes in his category. This creates an emulation where everyone progresses, in a family club setting where we take care of each other, where daily solidarity is necessary around a hard core of about ten high level athletes. The competition also plays an important social role for those who often only have taekwondo to get out of their neighborhood, their city, to see something else and reveal themselves.

Trained at the club

Nahil Mehnana (-78kg) was, for his part, trained in Feyzin, in the suburbs of Lyon. Lahcen El Ouarzaz watches over him, not surprised by his performance on Sunday but happy to see the progression of a fighter trained at the club since his younger years and who embodies a strong club spirit."This victory, which was not easy to achieve, is logical in his career after his national title in U23, his final in juniors and his podiums in the European opens of the last months. Nahil was trained at the club from a young age by my father Brahim and after taking a break from soccer, which he continues to practice, he returned to the dojang. It is undoubtedly the freedom he needed even if he could have performed earlier if he had not taken this break. Above all, his progression, with a solid technical background, is also the result of a competitive spirit that builds him up. It must be said that he has a good example with his older sister Ines, Cadet World Champion in 2014, who found something very structuring and a lot of motivation the day she entered Jean-Pierre Joseph's dojang in Saint-Genis-Laval. If this great teacher passed away in 2018, he left a legacy, a spirit that survives him and infuses. It is this strong, family anchorage that we have perpetuated for three generations in our club of 194 members. For Nahil, it is a question of continuing to build to ensure a serene passage in seniors. He already has experience with them, and we hope he will be able to compete in the senior France next February. Another step."

Olivier Remy / Sen No Sen

*Tama Taputu (+78kg) is also on the final medal table of this French Ecopen, but, as the only one registered yesterday, the member of the Aix pole did not have the opportunity to fight.

Find all the podiums and the complete tables of the competition here

Link to results