Mohammed BELMAHI

Thirty-third episode: Moroccan Mohammed Belmahi, president of the Royal Moroccan Cycling Federation, member of the Steering Committee of the International Cycling Union (UCI).

Mohammed Belmahi: I have practiced cycling and taekwondo since I was young. After obtaining the 3rd dan in the latter discipline, I was elected deputy president, then in 1999 president, of the African Taekwondo Union. I then continued my career as a manager in the other of my two passions, cycling. In 2008, I won the election as president of the Royal Moroccan Cycling Federation. In September 2013, I was elected to the UCI Steering Committee, where I am responsible for para-cycling and the College of Arbitration for Sport. Finally, from 2010, I actively participated in the creation of the Francophone Cycling Union (UFC), which today brings together 56 French-speaking countries.

What is your role today?

I have chaired the Royal Moroccan Cycling Federation for two Olympics. But to beyond functions and roles, it is the principles and actions that interest me. For me, succeeding in sport, getting involved in a sporting approach, consists above all of speaking an honest language.

I have always considered sport as a factor of well-being, a search for the development of youth, a form of balance between the living forces of nations. The virtues of surpassing oneself, of courage, of will, the desire to fight with dignity to win, to succeed by favoring team spirit, respect for others, judges, and the rules... All these virtues and these values ​​are sought by the very spirit of the sporting Francophonie and its cultural and linguistic ideal. This is why I aspire for French-speaking sport to be as best represented as possible in Olympic competitions. Within the French-speaking Cycling Union, the “Little Queen” constitutes a mutual aid network between all the cycling federations in the French-speaking area.

What do you expect from the Rio 2016 Games?

I expect from the Rio 2016 Games the affirmation of cycling that is increasingly present in all areas of life and society: education, health, culture, leisure, the environment, economy, transport… Our discipline has taken on increasing importance in society over the last three decades. The Games will give him the opportunity to demonstrate it. On a more personal level, I am waiting for French-speaking cycling to achieve the best possible results, and for Africa to finally win an Olympic medal in the cycling disciplines.