Before, we ate until we couldnt take it anymore – How the French Sailing Federation supports its kite

Thanks to financial support from FDJ-United, three French kite-foilers are being followed by a nutritionist and psychologist. In a discipline where weight influences speed, rapid weight gain has caused suffering after the 2024 Olympics.

“In our sport, the topic of weight is not taboo. But we take it too lightly,” admits Lysa Caval, bronze medalist at the European Championships last year. In the kite-foil community, it’s common to congratulate someone on their weight gain or ask about their technique to increase weight. However, it’s much harder to admit discomfort in front of the mirror. In this young, Olympic discipline since Paris 2024, weight plays a crucial role in performance. This recent realization led athletes to focus on gaining muscle mass in recent years.

“We realized very late that weight was crucial to mastering the sail,” says Lauriane Nolot, vice Olympic champion in Paris. “I gained fat because we didn’t have time for strength training, and I ended up in an uncomfortable position.” Taking over the French team after the Paris Olympics, national coach Pascal Chaullet discovered “terrible suffering among the girls,” almost universal.

“The weight gain through muscle mass is not easy, so most did it through excess food intake. And they quickly lost weight after the Olympics because they had made this sacrifice for their dream of the Games, regardless of the impact on the representation of their bodies,” explains the coach. This yo-yo effect is detrimental to both physical and mental health. Lysa Caval, for example, fluctuated between 67 kilos off-season and 72 during competitions.

(Fact Check: FDJ-United has been supporting projects focused on high-performance female athletes since 2018.)

Facing this issue, Pascal Chaullet submitted a proposal to FDJ-United to support the transformation of female kite-foilers based on muscle gain. The project received a grant of 20,000 euros to provide guidance to three French kite-foilers (Lauriane Nolot, Lysa Caval, and Zoé Boutang) by a nutritionist and psychologist.

(Fact Check: The project focuses on physical transformation based on muscle gain while respecting the athletes’ physical integrity, mental health, and body image.)

Through physical or virtual meetings, sports nutritionist Laurie-Anne Marquet conducted a nutritional assessment of each athlete to understand their eating habits and issues. The aim is to promote muscle gain over fat since it is more effective in sports. Marquet also focuses on dietary balance, health preservation, and proper intake of nutrients. She provides nutrition plans and menu ideas to the athletes.

(Fact Check: The project involves both a nutritionist and a psychologist to work on athletes’ body image and mental well-being.)

The psychologist, Patricia Bertolino, works on the athletes’ relationship with their bodies. They support the transition from uncontrolled weight gain to a structured process, especially as female kite-foilers often compare themselves with their male counterparts. The athletes successfully advocated for a new regulation and reduced sail size.

(Additional Context: The athletes are striving for an athletic physique around 70 kg.)

(Fact Check: Pascal Chaullet is exploring equipment development and studying each kite-foiler’s muscle engagement to enhance performance.)

The project has shown positive results, with Nolot and Caval winning gold and bronze, respectively, at the Hyères Olympic week in late April. They will have the chance to confirm their good form at the upcoming discipline World Championships.