Sports Awards of the Year 2006-Thélermont, Cupidon into history book |27 January 2007
Seychelles Nation presents you with short profiles of the top five chosen from the finalists in both the female and male categories.
Badminton player Georgie Cupidon – Sportsman of the Year
National competitions: Winner of the men’s singles Knockout Tournament
Winner of the men’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles of the Curtain-raiser competition
International competitions: Mixed doubles gold medallist with Juliette Ah-Wan at the African Senior Badminton Championship in Algeria
Men’s doubles bronze medallist with partner Steve Malcouzane at the African Senior Badminton Championship in Algeria
Team event bronze medallist at the African Senior Badminton Championship in Algeria
Mixed doubles silver medallist alongside Juliette Ah-Wan in the Mauritius Open
Bronze medallist with the Seychelles team in the Thomas & Uber Cup
The country’s number one male player, 25-year-old Georgie Cupidon, who participated in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, is the first badminton player to win the Sportsman of the Year title.
Weightlifter Charles Siméon – runner-up
Local competitions: Open Championship – Olympic total of 260kg (115kg snatch and 145kg clean-and-jerk) in the 77-kg division
National Championship – Olympic total of 255kg (110kg snatch and 145kg clean-and-jerk) in the 77-kg division
International competition: African Weightlifting Championship in Morocco. Olympic total of 257kg (110kg in snatch and 147kg in clean-and-jerk) in the 77-kg division. His clean-and-jerk performance won him a silver medal and his Olympic total brought him the bronze medal.
Runner-up to Sportsman of the Year 2005 Allan Julie, Charles Siméon, 24, rivaled with eight top quality lifters in the race for the gold medals at the African Weightlifting Championship. His second runner-up position in two years is proof of his consistency.
Canoeist Tony Lespoir – third place finisher
National competitions: Won all K1 races
International competitions: Winner of K1 200m, 500m, 1km and 5km gold medals at the East and Central Africa Rowing Cano-Kayak Championship in Kenya
World Cup series in Poznan, Poland (200m – 8th out of 9 participants, 1,000m – 9th out of 9 participants and 500m – 9th out of 9 participants)
International Canoe Regatta in Duisburg, Germany (500m – 9th out of 9 participants and 1,000m – 8th out of 8 participants)
Flatwater Racing World Championship in Szeged, Hungary (200m – 7th out of 9 participants and 500m – 8th out of 9 participants).
An 11-time canoeist of the year, globetrotter Lespoir, 30, finished fourth overall in 2004 and 2005.
Footballer Wilnes Brutus – fourth place finisher
National competitions: Winner of the Airtel Cup with Red Star
Runner-up of the Land Marine Cup with Red Star
International competitions: He scored four times for The Pirates of Seychelles in 2006 – one in the 2-1 win against Tanzania in the Tri-Nation Tournament, one against Namibia whom The Pirates eliminated on a penalty shootout in the Cosafa Castle Cup and two against Club M of Mauritius in a 2-1 victory at Stad Linite in an African Nations Cup 2008 qualifier
A thorn in the defence of most teams, goal-poacher Brutus has made his entry into the top-five thanks to his many goals for club Red Star and The Pirates of Seychelles.
Laser sailor Allan Julie – fifth place finisher
Local competitions: Finished third out of 18 participants in the Formula Windsurfing National Championship
International competitions: Olympic Test event (32nd out of 36 participants)
Laser European Cup (86th out of 136 participants)
ISAF World Sailing Games (60th out of 74 participants)
Al Maktoum Regatta (2nd out of 13 competitors)
Laser World Championship (32nd out of 129 competitors)
Kieler Woche Regatta (54th out of 71 competitors)
Warmemunder Woche Regatta (17th out of 60 participants)
Allan Julie, a winner of the Sportsman of the Year five times (in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005), did not compete to the required level expected of him in 2006, but still collected some good results. He was third overall in 2003.
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Weightlifter Janet Thélermont – Sportslady of the Year
National competitions: In the National Championship, she competed in the 63-kg weight category, improving her records with best lifts of 75kg in snatch and 95kg in clean-and-jerk for an Olympic total of 170kg
International competitions: Triple gold medallist at the African Weightlifting Championship in Casablanca, Morocco, with an Olympic total of 190kg (85kg in snatch and 105kg in clean-and-jerk) in the 69-kg category
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist with an Olympic total of 200kg (90kg in snatch and 110kg in clean-and-jerk) in the 69-kg weight category
This is the third time Janet Thélermont has won the Sportslady of the Year. Her previous two wins came in 2002 and 2004. The first Seychellois female athlete to win a Commonwealth Games medal, Thélermont finished fifth overall in 2000, fourth in 2001 and runner-up to Shrone Austin in 2003 and to Lindy Leveau-Agricole in 2005.
Heptathlete Céline Laporte – runner-up
National competitions: None
International competitions: French under-23 heptathlon champion for a third consecutive year in 2006
French long jump elite champion with a winning distance of 6.40m
Pentathlon silver medallist with 3,901 points at the French Combined Indoor Championship
Long hump bronze medallist with a record distance of 6.57m at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia
Heptathlon silver medallist with 4,932 points at the 15th African Senior Athletics Championship in Mauritius
THIRD overall in 2003 and 2004 and fourth in 2005, France-based Céline Laporte, 22, has shot to the runner-up position thanks to her good showing at the Commonwealth Games and African Senior Athletics Championship
Badminton player Juliette Ah-Wan – third place finisher
National competitions: Winner of the ladies’ singles, ladies’ doubles and mixed doubles of the Knockout Tournament
Winner of the ladies’ singles and ladies’ doubles of the Curtain-raiser competition
International competitions: Ladies’ singles gold medallist at the African Senior Badminton Championship in Algeria and mixed doubles gold medallist with Georgie Cupidon as partner. During the same championship, Ah-Wan won the ladies’ doubles silver medal alongside Catherina Paulin and was a bronze medallist in the team event.
Unbeaten locally, Sportslady of the Year 2000 Juliette Ah-wan, who participated in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, is back in the top five after failing to make the grade in 2005.
The 25-year-old finished as runner-up to Sportsladies of the Year Sophia Vandagne in 1999 and Janet Thélermont in 2002, took fourth place overall in 2003 and 2004 but failed to win a place in the top five in 2001 and 2005. She has won the Young Female Athlete of the Year title three times in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
Swimmer Shrone Austin – fourth place finisher
National competitions: None
International competitions: 1,500, freestyle gold medallist at the Senior African Swimming Championship in Dakar, Senegal
Winner of a silver medal in the 800m freestyle and three bronze medals in the 400m freestyle, 200m freestyle and 400m Individual Medley at the Senior African Swimming Championship in Dakar, Senegal
1,500m bronze medallist at the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Championships
Sportslady of the Year 2003 Shrone Austin participated in the first edition of the Fina World Youth Swimming Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia and the 8th World Short Course Championship in China.
She was fourth overall in 2002, fifth in 2005 and out of the top-five in 2004. She has also won the Young Female Athlete of the Year title are record four times – in 2002, 2003 and 2005.
Weightlifter Clementina Agricole – fifth place finisher
National competitions: Lifted a total of 165kg (75kg snatch for a Seychelles record, and 90kg clean-and-jerk) in the National Championship to win the best female lifter title
International competitions: Winner of six silver medals – three in both the junior and senior 58-kg weight category - with performances of 70kg in snatch and 95kg in clean-and-jerk (new Seychelles record) for an Olympic total of 165kg at the African Weightlifting Championship in Casablanca, Morocco
Voted Young Female Athlete of the Year 2004, Agricole, 18, finished fourth in her weight division at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. This is her first appearance in the top five.
Compiled by G. G.