For an athlete, every detail counts. Often referred to as “marginal profits,” finding new — and sometimes unique — ways to claim an advantage has now become a mainstay for many competitors.
And it’s not just physical benefits. It can also be about mental health.
` Sport Africa spoke to five athletes competing on the international stage to learn more about the tactics they have discovered through years of hard work and dedication.
There’s no guarantee they’d work for everyone, but these are the fascinating techniques our famous five swear by to keep up.
Asmaa Niang: Judo (Morocco)
Asmaa Niang has performed at two Olympic Games and understands the strains of competing at the highest level. She explains how cold therapy is helping her stay cool ahead of Paris 2024.
Moroccan judoka Asmaa Niang has competed in two Olympic Games
“It consists of three pillars: breathing, mindset and ice bath. It’s all about mental resources.
“I often take cold showers in the morning and evening and bathe in an ice bath that is between zero and five degrees (Celsius) two to three times a week.”
She says she got the idea from record-breaking extreme athlete Wim Hof.
“He is the founder of the method. I’ve been doing this every day for over a year now.
“It’s an integral part of my training and I can’t do without it. It’s become essential, like sleep, to help me recover. It’s really part of my everyday life, of my well-being.”
“The Mirror of the Soul”
“It’s true that you think it’s not pleasant, but it has a huge benefit afterwards. Wim Hof used to say that the ice bath is the mirror of the soul.
“For me, it’s become my barometer of how I’m feeling. Breathing allows me to endure the icy water. There are many people who don’t know how to breathe. So I learned what breathing is and that helps me daily in my judo to know how to breathe at the right moment.”
Niang says she has seen many benefits from cold therapy in her life.
“I can sleep better and I’m no longer cold. In fact, I’m no longer sensitive to cold. The ice bath triggers a wave of happiness hormones that reduce stress and anxiety.
The story goes on
“But it’s not just about the cold bath, it’s really the whole mindset, a state of mind.”
Mali and Racing Besancon goalkeeper Oumar Sissoko claims he is extending his career with the help of additions
Oumar Sissoko: Soccer (Mali)
A Malian international for almost a decade, Oumar Sissoko has played his entire club career in France. While at Ajaccio from Ligue 1 (2012-2015), the 35-year-old claims to have felt the benefits of focusing on supplements. But what exactly does the goalkeeper get to sustain his career?
“I take protein, I take boosts, I take energy drinks or edibles. I also take energy chewing gum. In general, during games I take everything that is also recovery products and everything that has to do with hydration.
“These products give me maybe 30-40% more performance. They help me to maintain, improve and recover my daily activity. I know that for the most part they are natural, have been tested and are not doping products.
“With the intensity of training, it is certain that every high level athlete needs to take supplements in order to perform well. Provided you use the right products at the right time and in moderation.”
For Sissoko, the advantages are obvious.
“All of this allows an athlete to stay in the sport for longer, maybe delay the end of their career for a few years.
“We also have the mental side. It’s a whole thing that makes the supplements rest on the side and gives the athlete a better chance of staying at a pretty high level and performing and improving day after day. “
Mae-Berenice Meite: Ice Skating (France)
Mae-Berenice Meite, of Congolese and Ivorian descent, is a six-time French figure skating champion and has represented her country at two Winter Olympics. Flexibility is a requirement for a skater. But what exactly does it mean to be a “flexitarian”?
“Basically, it’s about people who eat a plant-based diet but allow themselves to eat meat and fish from time to time,” Meite told ` Sport Africa.
Figure skater Mae-Berenice Meite changed her diet after living in America and gaining weight
“The difference to vegans is that they only eat plant-based products. When something comes from animals, they don’t eat it, which is not the case with flexitarians.
“I have lived between France and the United States since 2015. And it’s true that the food there is not the same at all – regulations and qualities are different.
“I noticed that, especially on my body. I felt many differences between the food in France and the food in the US. I gained a lot of weight while eating the same food.
“It was much more difficult to skate on the ice. My legs were swollen and it took me a while to realize that it was related to my diet and especially the consumption of animal products.
“I decided that I would go vegan when I was in the States.”
“A new way of life”
Meite says she wasn’t concerned about whether her performance might be impacted by not consuming animal products.
“What got me hooked was seeing a lot of great champions like (F1 driver) Lewis Hamilton follow a vegan diet and be very, very successful.
“I surrounded myself with professionals, like a certified nutritionist. This gave me a lot of advice, solutions and supplements to take.
“I have a new attitude towards life. Really. I have way, way more energy.
“It’s a very big misconception and there are many top athletes who have shown that you don’t have to eat meat to be strong.
“I’ve been strictly vegan for a long time, having been in the US for over a year during Covid, and it hasn’t affected me in terms of strength, quite the opposite.”
Meddy Elice: fencing (France)
Meddy Elice hails from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe and is hoping to represent France at next year’s Paris Olympics. To avoid his hopes of playing a home game being dashed, this fencer employs an extreme technique to stay alert.
“Extreme visualization is when I enter a projection state where I can feel all the emotions corresponding to the places and environment I’m projecting myself into, i.e. when I’m on the track.
“I have the sensations that I feel under my feet, the smells, the emotions and everything that is assimilated in that moment.”
“It allows me to better assess a situation that is about to happen or has already happened.
“That is, when I’m faced with a problematic situation and it didn’t work out, the moment makes me reconsider and conceptualize differently in order to think differently and anchor the areas for improvement in the future.
“When I do repeated visualization sessions and I manage to anchor certain keywords, certain sensations… I approach them and immediately find it easier to bring out the best in me.”
Kickboxer Karim Ghaiji uses water fasting to gain weight, sometimes going without food for a week
Karim Ghaiji: Kickboxing (Morocco/France)
Born in Morocco, Karim Ghaiji is now the captain of the French kickboxing team. It can be a brutal sport, but it’s not all about red meat and carbs when it comes to Karim’s diet. Instead, he has adopted a more austere style that goes with the flow.
“It’s just drinking water. Not eating for three days, seven days – or much longer. For me as an athlete, it’s important to lose weight in order to be in the right (weight) category in a fight.
“Of course we have to eat properly afterwards and permanently and be careful not to do anything stupid. If you eat poorly afterwards, the effect is not 100%.
“It helps me rejuvenate my body. I feel like I have a lot more energy than before.
“I’m 41 years old. I train a lot. I spar in the gym with young fighters who are 18, 19, 20, 21 and I feel like I’m the same age as them. Why? Because I’m paying I pay a lot of attention to what I eat.
“I think that’s an idea that might work for some, but for most people, to be strong, you have to eat slowly and limit amounts. And above all drink a lot. And of course rest. I think that’s very important. trying to be as efficient as possible.”
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