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Shana Coissard: “The goal, I know it's not going to happen right away, but it's to be first. »
Sparkling eyes, a smile on her lips, this is how Shana Coissard, 20, a Cross training competitor for three months, presents herself. Affected by a genetic joint disease, her handicap did not stop her in her rich career, but on the contrary, pushed her even more, to achieve her goals.
Initially, it was in the guise of a basketball player that she began her sports career. She discovers the high level there, thanks to a sport that she considers formative and which teaches to “be indulgent towards oneself and towards others. But it's also sport that allowed her to free herself from people's eyes, and from looking at herself vis-à-vis her handicap.
A sportswoman since childhood, Shana has been forced to stop since the announcement of her diagnosis of her joint pathology at the age of 14. It's hard for her to imagine that her “legs aren't going to get better. She takes several months to accept it and talk about it. Finally, basketball is positioned as a great liberator from this period full of doubts and worries: "When I started basketball, I no longer had any problems accepting my handicap and talking about it", she always says. smiling. “Thanks to basketball, I got back into sport, and it brought me a lot of things, it was a crazy experience, it taught me a lot about myself,” she continues.
Little by little, Shana developed an attraction for Cross training, a sport she discovered thanks to her physical trainer who advised her to do an initiation session. Shana finds the experience enriching and decides to practice “once or twice a week in addition to basketball”, for 1 year. However, at one point in her basketball career, rule changes appeared in terms of the recognition of disability internationally: “I was no longer recognized as disabled and I could no longer play at international level. explains the young woman.
“Just because I'm not strong enough right now doesn't mean I'm going to give up. »
Affected on the one hand by the announcement of the new constraints, on the other hand by the arrival of the first confinement, the young woman said to herself at that time, “frightened” for her mental health. In the end, the period is going much "better than expected", and when she comes out of confinement, Shana focuses fully on Cross training, where team cohesion appeals to her. “I went to the gym more often, and there it was no longer once, twice a week, it was really every day. she says.
For this young woman who describes herself as “shy” and reserved, one day reaching the steps of the podium was in no doubt for her. Determined to improve her abilities, she has only one goal in mind: "to be the first" and above all, to be proud of her progress. “Just because someone is going to tell me no, that it doesn't work or that I'm not strong enough right away, doesn't mean I'm going to give up. I always want to try. says the athlete.
Today, after starting competitions three months ago, she trains to work on strength: "There are times when I only work on strength, so it's more like bodybuilding than Cross training in terms of preparation. . It's not what I prefer. These are slightly more difficult times but I don't think I'll give up because I know what the goal is behind. »
“There is an overall goal. It's not training for a competition, it's training to get better over time. »
Proud of her progress, the competitor does not intend to stop there. She is already preparing for the Open Cross training games which will take place on February 24. With the aim of qualifying, she will redouble her efforts until the next competitions, in order to “become better as an athlete. “As my goal is to be first, I don't just see the benefits of my progress over months, but more over years. There is an overall goal. It's not training for a competition, it's training to get better over time. »
“I'm proud of all the progress I've made since I started Cross training. Movements that I thought I wouldn't be able to do for example, and I always manage to surprise myself. It pushes the limits, it's the goal of the sport but I didn't think I was capable of it. It changes the ideas I had about myself. »
