Nickname
Mela, Mel, Nini, MDJDS (liberation.fr, 20 Jul 2021; actusgymnastique.wordpress.com, 04 Sep 2017)
Hobbies
Dancing, sport fishing, surfing, diving. (ffgym.fr, 17 Sep 2019; leparisien.fr, 13 Sep 2019)
Occupation
Athlete
Spoken languages
Creole, English, French
Club
World Champions Centre: Houston, TX, USA
Coach
Cecile Landi Canqueteau [personal], FRA, from 2022; Laurent Landi [personal], FRA, from 2022
Injuries
In December 2022 she underwent surgery to clean up the meniscus in her right knee. She returned to training four months later. (la1ere.francetvinfo.fr, 06 Aug 2023; lequipe.fr, 16 Jun 2023; spotgym.fr, 04 Aug 2023)
In January 2019 she injured the ring finger on her left hand. (tellerreport.com, 12 Apr 2019)
In July 2015 she required surgery after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament [ACL] and injuring the meniscus in her right knee. She was unable to train for nine months and did not return until April 2016. (france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr, 06 May 2017; ffgym.fr, 21 Nov 2016; actusgymnastique.wordpress.com, 03 Aug 2015; spotgym.fr, 04 Aug 2023)
Start sporting career
She took up gymnastics at age five at the La Gauloise de Trinite club in Martinique.
Reason for taking up the sport
She was interested in judo, football, and rugby when she was younger. Her stepfather then took her to gymnastics lessons. "When I discovered gymnastics I became passionate about it. I knew from the beginning that this would be my sport."
Ambitions
To win a medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (activradio.com, 04 Aug 2021)
Additional information
MOVE TO THE US
She was disappointed with her performance at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and decided to take some time away from the sport. In late 2021 she was invited to join US gymnast Simone Biles in the Gold Over America Tour, a two-month long demonstration series all over the United States of America. The following year she decided to relocate to Houston, Texas, and train with Biles at the World Champions Centre. "[Going to the United States of America] helped me to let everything go and regain pleasure in gymnastics. It's extremely rare to have fun just the way I had with the [Gold Over America] Tour, where we danced and had a good time with the public. That allowed me to see how much I love gymnastics. I needed to see other things and meet new people. [Training in Houston] allows me to start from scratch and find new motivation." (olympics.com, 22 Sep 2022; leparisien.fr, 06 Apr 2022)
LEAVING MARTINIQUE
In 2013 she left her birthplace of Martinique, a French overseas region in the Caribbean, to move to continental France and join the national training programme. (france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr, 06 May 2017)
HERITAGE
Her father is from Portugal and her mother from Martinique. "My father comes from the surroundings of Lisbon. He relocated to Martinique, where he met my mother. I would like to go to Portugal to discover my country of origin, my second nation, to know my other culture." (lusojornal.com, 30 Oct 2019)
Last update : 2024-07-22
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