Sports & Skills
A BRIDGING PROGRAMME BETWEEN SPORTS AND SKILLS
The WorldSkills Lyon 2024 Competition, strongly supported by the French government, was awarded the “Grande Cause Nationale” (Great National Cause) label by the French Ministry of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games. This label strengthened the position of WorldSkills Lyon 2024 as a player in the promotion of sport in society, and placed the Competition in line with the Government’s ambitions and in alignment with the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Organizing Committee wished to highlight the power of sport with young people and its action as a lever for social and professional inclusion:
- By celebrating the common values between skills and sports competitions: excellence, commitment, discipline, teamwork, surpassing oneself, perseverance, respect, and fraternity.
- By highlighting the connections and parallels between athletes and WorldSkills Competitors.
Through its Sports & Skills Programme, WorldSkills Lyon 2024 expressed its strong ambition to position the WorldSkills Competition as an unprecedented crossroads where professional and sporting skills meet.
The Organizing Committee initiated strong, meaningful synergies with several clubs and sports teams in the Lyon area: the LDLC ASVEL elite women’s basketball club, ASUL Vaulx-en-Velin Handball, and the NECC (National ESport Club & Community) association, the LOU Rugby club, Lyon Athletics, Auvergne Rhône Alpes of Athletics League, Pôle France Gymnastique, CROS Auvergne Rhône Alpes, France Travail “programme “Les Clubs Sportifs Engagés” as well as the Sport dans la Ville association.
In close collaboration with public, private and associative players at a regional and national level, and thanks to the involvement of numerous partners in the sports ecosystem, targeted actions were carried out throughout the year to highlight the societal role of sport, such as the traveling photo exhibition “Le Bon Geste au Bon Moment” (The Right Gesture at the Right Time): a parallel between the excellence of professional and sporting gestures. The aim was to promote the skills acquired through sport, and their value in the professional world. The exhibition was on display at various sports clubs in the Lyon metropolitan area and at emblematic venues in the city of Lyon. The vernissage took place on 19 April during the ASUL Vaulx-en-Velin handball game against Clermont.
The Sports & Skills programme was also supported by champions such as Paoline Salagnac, a former international professional basketball player, silver medallist at EuroBasket 2015 and former French basketball champion. She now works as a Sports Director at the LDLC ASVEL women’s elite sports club and Director of Development for the club’s societal commitments, alongside Tony Parker and Marie-Sophie Obama.
“The parallels (between WorldSkills Competitors and athletes) are obvious… It’s the same involvement, the same commitment and, above all, it’s about building self-confidence, so as to have the right gesture on D-day…It’s about having the Right Gesture at the Right Time, and it’s valid in sport, particularly in basketball, but also in each of the skills that will be represented during the WorldSkills Lyon 2024 Competition.” Paoline Salagnac.
The 47th edition of the WorldSkills Competition was an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to these shared values.
