The Voies Civiles think tank, made up of stakeholders from the economic, social, associative, cultural and sporting worlds of the Occitanie region, presented the SPORTILIVRE prize this Wednesday, April 9, in Montpellier, at the Gazette Café de Montpellier, which rewards the work that best highlights the fundamental human values transmitted by sport.
Among the 24 works submitted to the Jury (from 16 publishers, covering a wide range of literary genres), a selection of 5 books and 2 comics was retained:
• “Alice Milliat, the Olympic woman” by Sophie Danger – Les Audacieuses
• “Jesse Owens” by Alain Foix – Folio Gallimard
• “Johnny Johnny” by Frédéric Rossignol – Arléa
• “The incredible stories of the Vendée Globe” by Dino Di Meo – Hugo Sport
• “We don’t amputate the heart” by Mathieu Lartot – Robert Laffont
• “I’m going but I’m scared” by Clarisse Crémer – Delcourt Encrages
• “Ping-pong diplomacy” by Alcante and Alain Mounier – Delcourt
The 2025 Sportilivre Prize was awarded to Jesse Owens by Alain Foix – Folio Gallimard.
The jury also decided to award a “Jury’s Favorite” prize to The Incredible Stories of the Vendée Globe by Dino Di Meo – Hugo Sport.
Finally, this year a “Comic Strip” prize was awarded to “La diplomatie du ping-pong” by Alcante and Alain Mounier – Delcourt.
Christophe Carniel, President of Voies Civiles and the Jury, is delighted with the award of the Sportilivre Prize to Jesse Owens by Alain Foix: "The 2025 Sportilivre Prize rewards a book that brilliantly illustrates the human values transmitted by sport. After the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which showcased athletics in France like never before, it seemed essential to us to celebrate a book that resonates with the history and universality of the Games. Jesse Owens by Alain Foix perfectly embodies this idea. The athlete, through his fight against racism and his historic feat in Berlin in 1936, is the emblem of the human quest through sport: hope, resistance, and the reconciliation of peoples. This prize is a recognition of the legacy of this great champion, but also a tribute to the power of sport as a vehicle for social transformation and international dialogue."
