Groupe Adéquat, actor of the Tony Parker Adéquat Academy, will accompany the academics until they obtain their first job. Also, with this new “Sporting Word” section, you will find every month an interview with a top-level athlete who tells us about his journey, sometimes steep, to move from sport to the world of business.
Agnès Raharolahy, who returned from the European Championships this summer with a fine silver medal in the 4x400m, has been making a name for herself for several years on the athletics tracks. She who started athletics out of passion, trained hard year after year until 2014 and her European 4x400m title was a turning point in her career.
Meeting with this woman, who advances in life and on the track with great determination !
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Did you consider a different path than that of top-level sportsman?
“I was in my first year of college when sport started to take on more importance in my life, but I never thought that my sport would be professional and that I would succeed in making a living from it. I thought I was gonna have to do something else next door.”
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So did you continue your studies until you got your master’s degree?
“I was thinking a little bit about my aftercareer, but I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. Instead, I chose studies that could fit with sport: a degree in languages, then training to become a teacher. Today I have a master’s degree, but I don’t yet know what I will do after my career.”
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Do you prepare your post-career in the same time ?
“Sport takes time, space and energy on a daily basis. As I am into sport, it is difficult to be motivated to do something next door, especially because I have not yet defined my professional project.”
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As a high level athlete, are you accompanied in preparing for this after career?
“It is up to us to ask, to find. Many people around me, and especially my coach, push me to prepare it. In reality, a lot of things are being put in place, but we are not necessarily aware of them. ”
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It is often said that high-level sports experience could bring to the business world, what do you think about it?
“It is true that there are often connections between the two and this is not for nothing. Athletes have a great capacity for hard work and determination. We are looking for performance, and companies are looking for the same thing! We are also very attentive, to our coach for example. In the company I think it’s the same, you have to listen, surround yourself, don’t work alone. ”
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On the other hand, what obstacles do you see to moving from one world to another?
“These two worlds are different, in the sense that sport is originally a hobby and a game, whereas in business, things become serious and are no longer a game at all. It’s not quite the same approach. ”
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Is there a figure or model, in your opinion, that illustrates this link between the world of sport and the world of business?
“The companies that support athletes and are ready to welcome them, helping them in their training until they are offered a job, that is a model! They are not easy to find, these companies that are also ready to support and train us during our careers… And yet, it is the ideal for a top athlete! ”
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Today, what advice or information that you missed at the beginning of your career would you give?
“It would be to not hesitate to ask questions around you, and to turn to people who can have information and guide them. Which I didn’t do because I didn’t know about it. There are things that can be put in place very early, but you need to be aware from the beginning. ”
