In 15 months, all the Indian Ocean sports delegations will be in Madagascar to participate in the 11th Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG). The Mayotte athletes intend to do well there. In a few days, they will be in Reunion to get to know each other and already confront the Reunionese.
Without a stadium worthy of the name, it is difficult to prepare for Mayotte athletes who wish to take part in the Indian Ocean Island Games. But the deadline is fast approaching and it inspires many athletes. And in particular the Mahorais of France Nasrane Bacar and Djassim Ahamada. They have already tasted this competition in 2015. The sprinter had won bronze in the 100m. The long jumper had won a gold medal in the long run. In 2019, with the change of regulations imposing a year of license in Mayotte, they had been excluded from the Games of the islands disputed in Mauritius to their greatest regret.
Nasrane Bacar (right) won the bronze medal in the 100m in 2015 in Reunion. Eight years later, she wants to climb to the top step of the podium.
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And if they are in the race for 2023, it is because they were able to get fired in Mayotte, in this case at the Racing Club de Mamoudzou, thanks to the financial support of the departmental council and the lobbying of the athletics committee and of the CROS (Regional Olympic and Sports Committee).
Djassim Ahamada won gold in the long distance at the 2015 Island Games with a jump measured at 7.61m.
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The two athletes arrived in Mayotte on Saturday and will leave for Reunion on April 15 for a 12-day course. Nine athletes in total will be on the course. Objective: prepare for the summer season and work on cohesion for the torchbearers.
For those who will not be on this course, don’t worry. There is still time to integrate the selection. But in any case, it will be necessary to achieve the minima set by the organizing committee of the Games. Between now and the competition, two other courses will be planned. The second will still be in Reunion.
For the athletics committee, the ambition is to bring back medals from Madagascar. Among the 9 athletes in training, 5 have already obtained a podium at the Island Games. And they intend to repeat the performance again and make Mayotte shine on the Malagasy tracks.
