Last summer, Belgian athletics was plunged into a sad crisis following the open conflict between the federation and the three-time Olympic champion: Nafissatou Thiam. The heptathlete decided to give up in the middle of the World Championships in Japan last year after a disagreement over the code of conduct.
A few months later, Jessica Mayonpresident of the LBFA (French-speaking Belgian Athletics League), gave an interview to our colleagues from the DH.
After months of silence, Jessica Mayon claims to have tried to find an agreement concerning the famous code of conduct that the Belgian sports legend did not wish to sign before the Tokyo Worlds. “That was really my goal. I don’t see any reason why I would have had any problem with Nafi. Personally, I didn’t have the liabilities of others and I arrived with a real desire to reach a solution. No one comes out better for not having reached an agreement. I tried to have a dialogue, but obviously this dialogue had to be sincere. The problem, when there are intermediaries, is that we don’t really know how the information is transmitted and that’s a difficulty.”
The president of the LBFA remains hopeful and wishes to reconnect with the champion. “There should be a meeting soon with Nafi. In any case, that is my wish. I would like to have a frank discussion with her to be sure that all the information arrives and is not distorted […]. There is always a way to find solutions.”.
