Mathilde Descoux: "You could say I was born at the Creps".
Mathilde Descoux is a student at Montpellier Management. She won first place in the 400 meters at the university athletics championships held in Blois on June 1 and 2, 2024.
She fell into athletics as a child. It's a family affair for Mathilde Descoux: her mother is an athlete, her father an athlete and a track and field coach. " You could say I was born at the Creps," smiles Mathilde, who has had the Philippidès stadium as her playground and the long jump landing zone as her sandbox right from the start.
At the age of 6, she started out in athletics, dabbling in a bit of everything, and at 16 she chose to specialize in the 400 meters, " because I'm a sprinter, and also a bit to distinguish myself from my father, who trained in the 800 meters ", recalls the young champion, who trains at the Mireval Gardiole Athlétisme club.
Aiming for the French team
At the age of 21, the Philippidès stadium remains her best playground, where she now trains a dozen hours a week. A pace not always easy to reconcile with her management degree at Montpellier Management. After a very busy first year, in which training and studying at the same time caused " a lot of stress and even injuries ", Mathilde Descoux decided to do the following year in two, thanks to a special arrangement reserved for top-level athletes.
A choice rewarded by a first-place finish at the university championships in Blois this summer and Metz this winter, with a lap of the stadium completed in under 55 seconds. A fine performance for the athlete, who is aiming for selection for the French national team and has set her sights on a Master's degree in strategy and innovation consulting. His career goal: to work in a sports company to combine his profession with his passion, and keep his cleats on.