*** La version fran&ccedil;aise ci-dessous/ French version below ***
In June, the Benin Athletics Federation was named the second best sports organisation in the West African nation by the country&rsquo;s Olympic and Sports Committee.
The distinction came along with a cheque for 4.5million West African francs (approximately US$8130), which was converted at the federation&rsquo;s request to badly-needed track and field equipment, and promptly handed over to local athletics leagues.
&ldquo;Since the current executive bureau took over management of the federation, a development strategy was put in place immediately,&rdquo; says the secretary general of the federation, Achille Aihou.
&ldquo;This plan had interventions at every level that included the training of coaches and athletes and the organisation of regular competitions for all age training. We focused on performance-based administrative management with clear indicators and put in place information and communication infrastructure.
&ldquo;All of these actions together permitted us to win the admiration of the Olympic and Sports Committee.&rdquo;
Benin&rsquo;s athletics officials are especially proud of their silver medal, no less because of the hard work they had put in, in spite of certain difficulties.
&ldquo;The first difficulty is financial,&rdquo; says Novignon Okry, the organisation manager at the federation. &ldquo;It is true that the government has placed our sport among the top five sports that benefit from government&rsquo;s attention and its action plan but the level of sport in Benin generally is weak, and sponsorship is not yet a well-developed concept, so it is difficult of obtain funding from elsewhere.&rdquo;
<h3>Facing cultural pre-sets</h3>
Another challenge the federation is often faced with is cultural in nature, where sports in general are not considered a viable professional option, and children are often enthusiastically discouraged from pursuing careers as athletes.
&ldquo;It is even worse for women, even though the most successful athletes in the country are women,&rdquo; says Okry. &ldquo;For most of them, when they venture into athletics, certain cultural practices force them to abandon these activities prematurely.&rdquo;
Beninese sprinter Beatrice Midomide knows exactly what that means. She is one of the country&rsquo;s four athletes training at the African Athletics Development Centre in Lome, Togo.
&ldquo;I was in my fifth year of primary school when I discovered athletics,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Unfortunately, my parents were not okay because of the risks of going into town to train at the stadium.&rdquo;
Safety issues aside, Midomide&rsquo;s parents were worried about the influence on her behaviour. It took gritty determination for her to remain committed to athletics.
&ldquo;One day I stole money from my father to go and train in town. Upon my return, my parents severely punished me but that situation never reduced my desire and I never stopped slipping out to go and train.
&ldquo;Finally my parents saw the inevitability of it, that it was a passion and because of their love for me they resolved to allow me to do athletics.&rdquo;
Midomide proved to be good enough to join Benin&rsquo;s national athletics team in 2013, and has since represented the country at several continental events. But many similar stories often end differently, with promising athletes abandoning the sport altogether. However, athletics officials in the country are doing their best to reverse the trend. It helps that athletics is gaining in popularity.
&ldquo;You just have to look at the turnout at the road races we organise to see how interested people are,&rdquo; Aihou points out. &ldquo;Athletics is quite popular and it is growing in popularity because of the results of the country&rsquo;s athletes in competitions in the sub-region and Africa as a whole.&rdquo;
These include middle-distance runner No&eacute;lie Yarigo and Odile Ahouanwanou, the African heptathlon champion, who set a national record at the World Championships in Doha last year.
&ldquo;Behind football, which tends to be way up there in many African countries, athletics is the next most widely taught discipline in schools and colleges in Benin, which means you have generations of young people every year who are learning about the sport and that is always a good thing.&rdquo;
<h3>The future of athletics in Benin</h3>
The athletics federation had big plans in 2020, which included the regular national competitions for all age groups as well as recently introduced championships in local leagues. However, those where shelved when the pandemic hit the country.
&ldquo;Covid-19 has upset and continues to affect athletics and other sports in Benin,&rdquo; explains Aihou. &ldquo;We had all the normal calendar events, the championships and others planned but we didn&rsquo;t really take off. Since March, we&rsquo;ve postponed our entire calendar many times but with the decision that was taken to save lives, we really didn&rsquo;t have a choice.
&ldquo;Government measures meant a stop in sports events and the closure of stadia. Of course this put an end to structural training with athletes. There is also an absence of funds, just a general gloom and a void in the federation&rsquo;s activity schedule.&rdquo;
There are plans to restart competitions but that will depend on when the Beninese government lifts restrictions on sports and crowds. When it is deemed safe enough to restart activities, the federation is ready to spring into the action.
&ldquo;We want to expand the practice of athletics in all communes in the country and we are encouraging the creation of professional clubs,&rdquo; says Aihou. &ldquo;In this vein, the Beninese government has initiated in its action plan the re-dynamisation and restructuring of some seven sports in the country, among them athletics. This has allowed us to have at least one trainer in every commune in the country, paid by government and charged with the follow-up of young athletes, especially in schools and neighbourhoods.
&ldquo;We are in the process of training officials so that we can have qualified individuals who can develop athletics in the country. We will create partnerships with primary schools so that we can bolster the sport among the youngest children.&rdquo;
No Beninese track and field athlete has ever won a medal at an Olympics or World Championships. The country&rsquo;s athletics officials are working hard to change that in the coming years.
Helen Ngoh for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<h1>La F&eacute;d&eacute;ration b&eacute;ninoise d&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme se projette au-del&agrave; de la COVID-19</h1>
En juin, le Comit&eacute; olympique et sportif b&eacute;ninois a nomm&eacute; la F&eacute;d&eacute;ration b&eacute;ninoise d&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme deuxi&egrave;me meilleure organisation sportive du B&eacute;nin, pays d&rsquo;Afrique de l&rsquo;Ouest.
Cette distinction s&rsquo;accompagnait d&rsquo;un ch&egrave;que d&rsquo;un montant de 4,5&nbsp;millions de francs CFA (environ 8&thinsp;130&nbsp;dollars am&eacute;ricains). &Agrave; la demande de la f&eacute;d&eacute;ration, cette somme a &eacute;t&eacute; transpos&eacute;e en &eacute;quipement d&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme dont elle avait grand besoin, et remis rapidement aux clubs locaux d&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme.
&laquo;&thinsp;Depuis que l&rsquo;actuel bureau ex&eacute;cutif a pris en charge la gestion de la f&eacute;d&eacute;ration, une strat&eacute;gie de d&eacute;veloppement a &eacute;t&eacute; mise en place imm&eacute;diatement&thinsp;&raquo;, explique M.&nbsp;Achille Aihou, Secr&eacute;taire g&eacute;n&eacute;ral de la f&eacute;d&eacute;ration.
&laquo;&thinsp;Ce plan pr&eacute;voyait des mesures &agrave; tous les niveaux, y compris la formation des entra&icirc;neurs et des athl&egrave;tes ainsi que l&rsquo;organisation de comp&eacute;titions r&eacute;guli&egrave;res pour l&rsquo;entra&icirc;nement de tous les groupes d&rsquo;&acirc;ge. Nous nous sommes concentr&eacute;s sur une gestion administrative bas&eacute;e sur la performance avec des indicateurs clairs. Nous avons &eacute;galement mis en &oelig;uvre une infrastructure d&rsquo;information et de communication.&thinsp;&raquo;
&laquo;&thinsp;L&rsquo;ensemble de ces initiatives nous a valu l&rsquo;admiration du Comit&eacute; olympique et sportif.&thinsp;&raquo;
Les responsables de l&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme au B&eacute;nin sont particuli&egrave;rement fiers de leur m&eacute;daille d&rsquo;argent, notamment gr&acirc;ce au travail acharn&eacute; qu&rsquo;ils ont accompli malgr&eacute; les difficult&eacute;s rencontr&eacute;es.
&laquo;&thinsp;La premi&egrave;re difficult&eacute; est d&rsquo;ordre financier&thinsp;&raquo;, explique Novignon Okry, le directeur charg&eacute; de l&rsquo;organisation de la f&eacute;d&eacute;ration. &laquo;&thinsp;Il est vrai que le gouvernement a plac&eacute; notre sport parmi les cinq premiers sports qui b&eacute;n&eacute;ficient de l&rsquo;attention gouvernementale et de son plan d&rsquo;action. Cependant, le niveau du sport au B&eacute;nin est g&eacute;n&eacute;ralement faible et le partenariat avec des sponsors est un concept encore peu d&eacute;velopp&eacute;. Il est donc difficile de r&eacute;colter des fonds aupr&egrave;s d&rsquo;autres sources.&thinsp;&raquo;
<h3>Faire face aux pr&eacute;jug&eacute;s culturels</h3>
Un autre d&eacute;fi auquel la f&eacute;d&eacute;ration est souvent confront&eacute;e est de nature culturelle, le sport en g&eacute;n&eacute;ral n&rsquo;&eacute;tant pas consid&eacute;r&eacute; comme une voie professionnelle viable. Les enfants sont souvent fortement d&eacute;courag&eacute;s de poursuivre une carri&egrave;re sportive.
&laquo;&thinsp;C&rsquo;est pire encore pour les femmes, m&ecirc;me si les plus grands athl&egrave;tes du B&eacute;nin sont des femmes&thinsp;&raquo;, d&eacute;clare Novignon Okry. &laquo;&thinsp;Pour la plupart d&rsquo;entre elles, lorsqu&rsquo;elles se lancent dans l&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme, certaines pratiques culturelles les obligent &agrave; abandonner trop t&ocirc;t cette activit&eacute;.&thinsp;&raquo;
La sprinteuse b&eacute;ninoise Beatrice Midomide sait exactement ce que cela signifie. Elle fait partie des quatre athl&egrave;tes du B&eacute;nin &agrave; s&rsquo;entra&icirc;ner au Centre de d&eacute;veloppement africain de l&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme situ&eacute; &agrave; Lom&eacute;, au Togo.
&laquo;&thinsp;J&rsquo;&eacute;tais dans ma cinqui&egrave;me ann&eacute;e d&rsquo;&eacute;cole primaire lorsque j&rsquo;ai d&eacute;couvert l&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme&thinsp;&raquo;, explique-t-elle. &laquo;&thinsp;Malheureusement, mes parents n&rsquo;&eacute;taient pas d&rsquo;accord &agrave; cause des risques d&rsquo;aller en ville pour s&rsquo;entra&icirc;ner au stade.&thinsp;&raquo;
Outre les questions de s&eacute;curit&eacute;, les parents de Beatrice Midomide craignaient les effets sur son comportement. Il lui a fallu beaucoup de d&eacute;termination pour continuer &agrave; s&rsquo;investir en athl&eacute;tisme.
&laquo;&thinsp;Un jour, j&rsquo;ai vol&eacute; de l&rsquo;argent &agrave; mon p&egrave;re pour aller m&rsquo;entra&icirc;ner en ville. &Agrave; mon retour, mes parents m&rsquo;ont s&eacute;v&egrave;rement punie, mais cette situation n&rsquo;a jamais frein&eacute; mon envie et j&rsquo;ai continu&eacute; de sortir pour m&rsquo;entra&icirc;ner.&thinsp;&raquo;
&laquo;&thinsp;Finalement, mes parents ont compris que c&rsquo;&eacute;tait une vraie passion. Par amour pour moi, ils ont d&eacute;cid&eacute; de m&rsquo;autoriser &agrave; faire de l&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme.&thinsp;&raquo;
Beatrice Midomide s&rsquo;est r&eacute;v&eacute;l&eacute;e suffisamment bonne pour rejoindre l&rsquo;&eacute;quipe b&eacute;ninoise d&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme en 2013 et depuis lors, elle a repr&eacute;sent&eacute; le B&eacute;nin dans plusieurs comp&eacute;titions continentales. Cependant, de nombreuses histoires similaires prennent souvent une autre tournure. Des athl&egrave;tes prometteurs renoncent tout simplement au sport. Pourtant, les responsables de l&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme au B&eacute;nin font de leur mieux pour inverser la tendance. Le fait que l&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme gagne en popularit&eacute; est une bonne chose.
&laquo;&thinsp;Il suffit de regarder le taux de participation aux courses sur route que nous organisons pour comprendre &agrave; quel point les gens sont int&eacute;ress&eacute;s&thinsp;&raquo;, souligne Achille Aihou. &laquo;&thinsp;L&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme est une discipline assez pris&eacute;e qui gagne en popularit&eacute; gr&acirc;ce aux r&eacute;sultats enregistr&eacute;s par les athl&egrave;tes b&eacute;ninois dans les comp&eacute;titions de la sous-r&eacute;gion et de l&rsquo;Afrique dans son ensemble.&thinsp;&raquo;
Parmi ces athl&egrave;tes figurent No&eacute;lie Yarigo, coureuse de demi-fond, et Odile Ahouanwanou, la championne d&rsquo;Afrique de l&rsquo;heptathlon, qui a &eacute;tabli un record national l&rsquo;ann&eacute;e derni&egrave;re aux Championnats du monde &agrave; Doha.
&laquo;&thinsp;Derri&egrave;re le football, qui tient une place importante dans de nombreux pays d&rsquo;Afrique, l&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme est la discipline sportive la plus enseign&eacute;e dans les &eacute;coles et les coll&egrave;ges du territoire b&eacute;ninois. Il en d&eacute;coule que chaque ann&eacute;e, des g&eacute;n&eacute;rations de jeunes gens s&rsquo;initient &agrave; ce sport et c&rsquo;est toujours une bonne chose.&thinsp;&raquo;
<h3>L&rsquo;avenir de l&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme b&eacute;ninois</h3>
La f&eacute;d&eacute;ration d&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme avait pr&eacute;vu de grands projets en 2020, y compris la tenue de comp&eacute;titions nationales r&eacute;guli&egrave;res pour tous les groupes d&rsquo;&acirc;ge ainsi que l&rsquo;introduction r&eacute;cente de championnats dans les ligues locales. Ces comp&eacute;titions ont toutefois &eacute;t&eacute; mises en suspens lorsque la pand&eacute;mie a s&eacute;vi dans le pays.
&laquo;&thinsp;La COVID-19 a boulevers&eacute; les plans et continue d&rsquo;affecter l&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme et d&rsquo;autres sports au B&eacute;nin&thinsp;&raquo;, explique Achille Aihou. &laquo;&thinsp;Nous avions planifi&eacute; toutes les manifestations sportives du calendrier habituel, les championnats et autres comp&eacute;titions mais nous n&rsquo;avons pas r&eacute;ussi &agrave; les organiser.&thinsp;&raquo; Depuis le mois de mars, nous avons plusieurs fois diff&eacute;r&eacute; l&rsquo;ensemble de notre programme. Cette d&eacute;cision a &eacute;t&eacute; prise dans le but de sauver des vies. Nous n&rsquo;avions pas vraiment le choix.
&laquo;&thinsp;Les mesures gouvernementales ont marqu&eacute; l&rsquo;arr&ecirc;t des &eacute;v&eacute;nements sportifs et la fermeture des stades, ce qui a bien s&ucirc;r interrompu l&rsquo;organisation de l&rsquo;entra&icirc;nement des athl&egrave;tes. Il y a &eacute;galement un manque de financement, juste une morosit&eacute; ambiante et un grand vide dans le programme d&rsquo;activit&eacute; de la f&eacute;d&eacute;ration.&thinsp;&raquo;
Il est envisag&eacute; de reprendre les comp&eacute;titions mais cela d&eacute;pendra de la lev&eacute;e par le gouvernement b&eacute;ninois des mesures de restriction visant les sports et les rassemblements. Lorsqu&rsquo;il sera possible de reprendre les activit&eacute;s en toute s&eacute;curit&eacute;, la f&eacute;d&eacute;ration sera pr&ecirc;te &agrave; passer &agrave; l&rsquo;action.
&laquo;&thinsp;Nous voulons d&eacute;velopper la pratique de l&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme dans toutes les communes du pays et nous encourageons la cr&eacute;ation de clubs professionnels&thinsp;&raquo;, explique Achille Aihou. &laquo;&thinsp;Dans cette optique, le gouvernement b&eacute;ninois a initi&eacute; dans son plan d&rsquo;action la redynamisation et la restructuration de quelque sept disciplines sportives dans le pays, dont l&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme. Cela nous a permis de faire intervenir au moins un entra&icirc;neur dans chaque commune du pays, r&eacute;mun&eacute;r&eacute; par l&rsquo;&Eacute;tat et charg&eacute; du suivi des jeunes athl&egrave;tes, notamment dans les &eacute;coles et les structures de quartiers.&thinsp;&raquo;
&laquo;&thinsp;Nous sommes actuellement en voie de former des officiels afin de pouvoir b&eacute;n&eacute;ficier des services de personnes qualifi&eacute;es dans le pays. Nous allons cr&eacute;er des partenariats avec des &eacute;coles primaires afin de renforcer la place de l&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme chez les plus jeunes.&thinsp;&raquo;
Aucun sportif b&eacute;ninois pratiquant l&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme n&rsquo;a jamais remport&eacute; de m&eacute;daille aux Jeux olympiques ou aux Championnats du monde d&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme. Les responsables de l&rsquo;athl&eacute;tisme au B&eacute;nin travaillent d&rsquo;arrache-pied pour y rem&eacute;dier dans les ann&eacute;es &agrave; venir.
Helen Ngoh pour World Athletics

In June, the Benin Athletics Federation was named the second best sports organisation in the West African nation by the country’s Olympic and Sports Committee.

Benin Athletics Federation looks beyond the pandemic