Team ENGIE

Among them (from left to right starting at the top), Elodie Clouvel (Modern Pentathlon) ©vincentbreton, Emmanuelle Mörch (Tennis fauteuil) ©emmanuelszendroi, Pauline Ado (Surfing) ©riblanc, Poema Newland (Kitesurfing) ©sailingenergy, Raphaël Beaugillet (tandem Paralympic cycling) ©emmanuelszendroi, Wilfried Happio (400 m hurdles) ©vincentbreton, Fabien Lamirault (Paralympic table tennis) ©vincentbreton, Pierre Le Coq (iQFoil windsurfing) ©riblanc, Alex Caizergues (Kite surfing) ©ericbellande, Axel Mazella (Kite surfing) ©sailingenergy, Luka Mkheidze (Judo) ©vincentbreton and Madeleine Malonga (Judo) ©florencegalabru.

More than a hundred athletes supported by the Group over 32 years

Since 1992, the Group has supported high-level athletes. It initially focused its efforts on two well-established sports – women's tennis and athletics, with the emphasis firmly on talented young people. The majority of these have gone on to become highly regarded in their respective disciplines – such as Nathalie Tauziat, Amélie Mauresmo, Jean Galfione, Stéphane Diagana, David Douillet and numerous others.

Since 2014, ENGIE has been supporting athletes via the Performance Pact

The Group wanted to refocus its Team on athletes at the highest international sporting level. ENGIE thus became one of the first companies to sign up to the Performance Pact – an initiative launched in 2014 by France's Ministry of Sport designed to boost France's performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Back then, the Group supported a team of five athletes. Solid support in line with its regional approach and its commitment to developing sport. Among them were Hélène Defrance and Pierre Le Coq, both of whom won bronze in the sailing event. In the run-up to the Games, they garnered a great deal of support from ENGIE employees, as well as during the Games themselves.

After Tokyo, ENGIE renews its commitment through the 2024 Performance Pact

In 2018, ENGIE decided it would once again be supporting around ten French athletes in their preparations for Tokyo, in line with its long-term commitment to support French sport – something in which it has been an active partner for more than 30 years.

Nine of them shone in Tokyo, taking home seven medals (including three golds). 
On the back of this achievement, and because of their desire to continue with their quest for excellence and to share it with their colleagues, ENGIE has once again decided to lend its support to them as they gear up for 2024 competitions.

Team ENGIE in 2024

• Axel Mazella (Kite surfing since 2020) is one of the best kiters in France. He has been European champion on four occasions (2019, 2020, 2021 and 2024) and World Gold Cup Kitefoil champion… and has enjoyed numerous victories on the ENGIE Kite Tour. He won a bronze medal in the 2022 and 2023 world championships.
• Elodie Clouvel (Modern Pentathlon – supported since 2018) is determined and tenacious, she gave everything she had: Elodie ended up winning the 2022 World Cup and climbed to the second step of the podium in Paris.
• Alex Caizergues (Kite surfing – supported since 2009) is a four-times world champion and the fastest kite surfer in the world (107 km/h). Alex is a frequent visitor to the ENGIE Kite Tour podium in his category, and has co-founded Syrocco, the aim being to help him shatter the water speed record (his target is 150 km/h).
• Wilfried Happio (400m hurdles – supported since 2019) won in 2022 his first international event – a silver medal at the European Athletics Championships. He had a very good 2024, winning his sixth consecutive French championships. 
• Luka Mkheidze (Judo under-60kg category – supported since 2018) realised his childhood dream when he first competed, winning a bronze medal on the Tokyo mats. Luka arrived in France in 2010 having fled the war in Georgia and won the nation's hearts by winning the French Olympic team's first medal. After a year marked by torn ligaments in 2022, the return to competition in 2023 will be crowned with success, with a European Championship title which paved the way for him to a medal in Paris.
• Madeleine Malonga (Judo under-78kg category – supported since 2018) confirmed her status as favourite by winning a silver medal in the individual event and a gold medal in the mixed team event in Tokyo. Two medals for her first competition – well done Mado! Podium in 2024 at the Grands Slams in Antalya and Paris then a gold medal with the French team this summer.
• Pierre Le Coq (sailing – supported since 2015), bronze medal in windsurfing at the 2016 Rio Olympics, who has just retired from sports after the 2024 world championships in Lanzarote.
• Pauline Ado (Surfing – supported since 2018) for the first time that surfing is featuring in the Games, was unfortunately defeated in the eighth heat of the finals by the world number three. Pauline was philosophical about her year in the aftermath of the Olympics and won a silver medal in the ISA World Championships then crowned European vice-champion in 2023. In addition to her sports career, Pauline is regularly involved in initiatives to protect the planet through her role as a Surf Rider ambassador.
• Raphaël Beaugillet (tandem Paralympic cyclist – supported since 2020) won a bronze medal in the Tokyo Paralympic Games in the standing-start kilometre. François Pervis was his pilot when they delivered their best time. A very good first Paralympic Games for Raphaël. Following François Pervis’ retirement, Raphaël changed pilot for his next Olympics in Paris. Since 2022, he has been part of a high-performance two-person team alongside Quentin Caleyron. Together, they won several titles in the French Championships, including the Omnium sprint (speed, 200 m and kilometre). They also won a bronze medal at the 2023 world track speed Championship.
• Poema Newland (Kite surfing – supported since 2020) is a member of the France team and is the French number two. Having won a silver medal at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires (Argentina), she lived up to everybody’s expectations by becoming European champion in 2021. A successful 2023 with a French Championship title and third place at the European Championship.
• Fabien Lamirault (Paralympic table tennis – supported since 2020) has retained his two Paralympic singles and doubles championship titles won in Tokyo. That takes his total to 8 Paralympic medals, including four golds won over three events. Fabien managed the year quite magnificently – quite a feat after some excellent achievements in Tokyo: in 2022, he became class 2 world champion for the third time. In 2023, he wins two more medals at the European Championship. In 2024, he won two bronze medals in single and double.
• Emmanuelle Mörch (Wheelchair Tennis – supported since 2024), is France's number two wheelchair tennis player. She became paraplegic when she was 18 years old after a snowboarding accident. Emmanuelle then embraced a double challenge: she began her career as a top-level athlete and at the same time started at the Centrale Paris engineering school.

What criteria does ENGIE use to select its athletes?

The athletes were chosen in collaboration with the Ministry and our regional representatives, helping the Group to extend its regional influence and meet the challenges of our major regions, as part of a local approach and a commitment to developing the local fabric. The selected athletes therefore serve as ambassadors, promoting the Group’s initiatives and breathing life into the regional fabric.

The first criterion to join Team ENGIE: the athlete must be eligible for the Performance Pact. 

ENGIE has been partnering French sport for more than 30 years and is reasserting its unwavering support for young French athletes across the country, helping them to perform and showcasing their talent.