Louis François Mendy
Louis François Mendy, born on March 2nd,1999, is a Senegalese hurdler.
After winning a silver medal in the 110m hurdles at the African Junior Athletics Championships, Louis François Mendy joined the “Centre de développement africain de l'athlétisme” (CDAA) run by Amadou Dia Ba, the only Olympic medalist in the history of Senegalese sport (silver at the Seoul Olympics in the 400m hurdles). Although he needed an invitation to attend the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, the current leader of Senegalese athletics owes his future presence in Paris to no-one but himself. In July 2023, his fantastic run at the Troyes international meeting enabled him to beat the Senegalese record by 13 seconds and 18 hundredths and qualify for the world championships in Budapest in August 2023 and the Olympic Games in Paris 2024. He now trains in Épinal, France, with the “Athletic Vosges Entente Clubs”.
Mbagnick Ndiaye
Mbagnick Ndiaye is a judoka born in Senegal in 1993. He won his first international medal in 2014, taking bronze in the -100 kg category at the African Championships. Over the next 5 years, through perseverance and sacrifice, he managed to become one of the best judokas in the world. He became African champion in the over-100kg category in 2019 and retained his title the following year. In 2019, he also won the gold medal at the All-Africa Games in Rabat and was named Senegalese Sportsman of the Year in 2019 by the National Sports Press Association. In 2020, he was the flag-bearer for the Senegalese delegation at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, alongside swimmer Jeanne Boutbien.
Ismaila Samb
"Between the wave and the surfer there is no friendship. May the best man win!"
Ismaila Samb is a young Senegalese surfer. Whatever the difficulties or conditions, he spends his life surfing. At the age of 20, Ismaila has forged himself a career as a champion. He discovered surfing at the age of eight thanks to his older brother. Since then, Ismaïla has come a long way, becoming one of Senegal's top surfers. After his first international appearance at the Surf Open Ponta Preta in Cape Verde, Ismaila took part in the 2022 World Surfing Games in Huntington Beach (USA). At the 2023 ISA World Surfing Games, held in El Salvador last June, no Senegalese athlete managed to qualify for the Paris Games in 2024. A disappointment for Ismaïla, who dreamed of representing his country at the Olympics. His goal now is to become a professional by joining the World Tour. He is still looking for a sponsor so that he can make a living from his sport.
