Loïc Lalague "Don't show your weaknesses".

It was in Rouen last March that 22-year-old Loïc Lalague won the title of French university champion. The competition was won with a lot of sweat, but also, and above all, with the good humor of this fine Montpellier team of five boxers, led by Atmane Ben Rabia. "We had a lot of fun, and the atmosphere was really cool," confides the young boxer.

"Self-control

Loïc discovered combat sports at the age of 16. He began with taekwondo, then English boxing, before opting for French boxing and kick-boxing two years ago. Belonging to the "foot-fist" boxing group, kick-boxing is a discipline that originated in the United States and Japan in the 1960s. Fighting takes place in a variety of ways, from knockout to "soft contact", as is the case in university competitions: "We're not allowed to hit, only to assault. You have to control your emotions and pay attention to what you're doing".

It's a mastery that the sportsman particularly appreciates, as is "challenging yourself . There's always someone stronger than you, so you have to have the drive, give it your best shot and, above all, not show your weaknesses even when you're tired. Fatigue doesn't seem to affect this hydrogeology student, who combines his Master's 2 degree with two to four training sessions a week, to which he adds jogging and rock-climbing... " It doesn't leave a lot of time to relax. That doesn't leave much time for anything else, but it's not the most complicated thing for me."

"Daily surveillance

For athletes, the taste of victory often goes hand in hand with a strict diet. Loïc's bête noire! Registered in the under 77kg category, he imposes daily monitoring on himself before competitions so as not to exceed this weight limit, and risk " finding myself up against opponents much bigger than me". A constraint he won't miss in his future professional life, which he doesn't envisage in the ring, but rather in contact with "the water table. It's concrete, it's visual, I like it! In any case, boxing will have taught this future hydrogeologist to beware... of sleeping water!

UM sportsmen and women at the top!

The University of Montpellier celebrates its athletes who have won medals at the World, European and French University Championships at an annual ceremony organized by the SUAPS. Read the portraits of these champions who lead the demanding double life of student-athlete. Read all the portraits...