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-meter race at the university track and field championships held in Blois on June 1 and 2, 2024.
She got into track and field when she was little. It runs in the family for Mathilde Descoux: her mother is an athlete, and her father is both an athlete and a track and field coach.“You could say I was born at the CREPS,” smiles Mathilde, who, from her very first steps, had the Philippidès Stadium as her playground and the long-jump landing area as her sandbox.
At age 6, she took up track and field, trying her hand at a little bit of everything, and at 16, she decided to specialize in the 400-meter dash, “because I’m a sprinter, and also partly to set myself apart from my father, who coaches the 800-meter dash,” recalls the young champion, who trains at the Mireval Gardiole Athletics Club.
Goal: French National Team
At 21, the Philippidès Stadium remains her favorite place to play, where she now trains about a dozen hours a week. It’s a schedule that isn’t always easy to balance with her business administration degree at Montpellier Management. After a very demanding first year, during which juggling training and studies caused“a lot of stress and even injuries,” Mathilde Descoux decided to complete the following year’s coursework over two years, thanks to a special arrangement for elite athletes.
This choice paid off with first-place finishes at the university championships in Blois this summer and in Metz this winter, where she completed a lap of the track in under 55 seconds. It was an impressive performance for the athlete, who is aiming to make the French national team and plans to pursue a master’s degree in innovation strategy and consulting. Her career goal is to work for a sports company so she can combine her profession with her passion—and stay comfortable in her cleats.