Angèle Hug is no stranger to challenges in sport. But overcoming these difficult moments has made her a better athlete, ultimately leading to a silver medal in canoeing at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Starting her journey at age six after watching her brother participate in the sport, the 24-year-old French canoeist has embraced the difficulties that come with being a young woman in sport.
The Journey to Silver
Hug began her career by being the only girl in her club. While it was difficult at first, Hug says it made her “increase the demands on each descent of the river and each training session.” This forced her to continually push herself, stating that it really allowed her to “progress faster than if [she] had stayed in her comfort zone.”
Facing many difficulties during her career so far has only made Hug stronger. She learned how to navigate her fear and turn it into something that motivates her to continue improving. Hug says that her desire to overcome her fears has always been her “main driving force.” Many athletes can relate to the competitiveness of sport being a motivational factor, and it's no different for Hug.
Even in the scariest moments of sport, competitive spirit helps athletes embrace and overcome all of their fears to the point where it just becomes white noise in comparison to everything else. “Sport can be very scary and [she] believes that there is always a way to overcome it: it is to believe in what drives us.” For some it may be the pure pleasure of playing sport and for others it will be the competitive spirit; that is up to each person to find what suits them best,” Hug says.
“Refocus on the pleasure in competitions and training because as long as we enjoy ourselves, we’ve already won everything in the end: we’ve lived an unforgettable moment in life and the medal then becomes just a plus in this memory.”
Confidence in the Water
Hug says that confidence is key in any sport, but she wished someone would have warned her “that it’s normal when you’re younger to not have confidence in yourself,” and “sport brings self-confidence because it allows you to discover yourself, discover life, and live with other people.” When discussing how to maintain self-confidence throughout sport, Hug advises the importance of setting goals.
“Setting goals that we can achieve little by little allows us to fill this ‘reservoir’ of self-confidence.” Accomplishing these goals and tracking your progress over time helps you to recognize your growth and development. Achieving goal after goal will help to boost your confidence, both in and out of sport.
Finding Yourself in the Current
No matter the sport, it’s easy to get caught up in negativity, whether from yourself or others. Hug says that to combat negative perceptions of yourself, you should focus on how you look at yourself “and not on what you imagine others think.” Refocusing your mind makes a world of difference. Learning to love ourselves will take time, but “once accepted we are capable of anything!”
There will be times where we are swept up in the current of life and sport, forgetting the whole reason we wanted to play in the first place. This is why Hug emphasizes that we should “refocus on the pleasure in competitions and training because as long as we enjoy ourselves, we’ve already won everything in the end: We’ve lived an unforgettable moment in life and the medal then becomes just a plus in this memory.”
