Paris 2024 Olympic Games: “I couldn’t see myself doing these Games without her”, Clarisse Agbégnénou will sleep in the hotel and will be able to breastfeed her daughter

La championne française a mis les choses au point. MAXPPP – Thierry Larret

Judoka Clarisse Agbégnénou, who is aiming for a second individual Olympic title this summer in Paris, said on Friday she was satisfied with the solution found by the French Olympic committee to allow her to continue breastfeeding her daughter during the Olympics.

"For me, whatever the solution, I'm fine as long as I can stay with my daughter. So if I'm offered to stay at the hotel in the evenings so that I can be with my daughter and sleep with her, that's a solution that suits me", she declared to some French media on the sidelines of a reception at the French embassy in Japan, where the Blues are currently doing a preparation course.

The French Olympic committee unveiled exceptional measures during the Games at the end of February, allowing sportswomen who are breastfeeding their children to sleep in a hotel near the Olympic village. The request was made publicly by Clarisse Agbégnénou, selected for the Olympics, and mother of a little girl born in June 2022.

"I know how it goes"

"To re-contextualize things, I decided to breastfeed my daughter until' 39;she is weaning off", explained the six-time world champion. "That's not the case yet so I'm following her." "I made sure that physically I could feel good, because inevitably there is an element of fatigue, there is also a high-level athlete in me. But as a mother who must be very present for my daughter, I asked to have the possibility of having my daughter with me during the Olympic Games."

Also read: Grand Slam of Paris: Olympic champion Clarisse Agbégnénou offers herself a 7th title and reassures herself before Paris-2024

"This is going to be my third Games and I know how it goes. We're really all girls together so I didn't want to disturb the girls, but I couldn't see myself doing these Games without my daughter knowing that I'm still breastfeeding her.& quot;

Accommodation at the Pleyel hotel

According to the rules of the Olympic village, children may be invited there during the day but cannot sleep there. It was therefore decided to offer accommodation at the Pleyel hotel, located a few hundred meters from the Olympic village in Saint-Denis, for mothers who are breastfeeding their children.

According to Astrid Guyart, secretary general of the French Olympic committee (CNOSF), this solution makes it possible to offer "the best conditions of balance" to competitors and "taking parenthood into account".