Alizée caught the karate bug after watching her brother train for hours on end. Only 5 at the time, she wanted to “be like him”. Later she added water skiing and gymnastics to the mix—2 disciplines that have given her flexibility and discipline, she says.

Ten years on, her athletic career took off when the coach of the Burgundy league enrolled her in a training camp that helped her qualify for the national training centre in Talence, near Bordeaux. Being selected for the national team set her on fire. “Once you’ve played for France, you want to keep doing it!” she says, looking back. After 4 years at the Seniors centre in Montpellier, she moved on to the national training centre in Châtenay-Malabry south of Paris, and now trains at her club in Sarcelles, north of the capital.

At this point, Alizée had a real chance of winning big. But 2 years after becoming world champion in her category in 2014—at only 20—she experienced her first career setback when she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. And discovered that the rules for access to certain professions barred her from the careers she’d been aiming for.

Always a keen traveller, Alizée pivoted to a new career after the diagnosis, and 2 years later completed a BTS degree in tourism. Today she’s fighting to change laws that in her view don’t take into account advances in diabetes treatments. “I figure it’s on me to make a difference—to prove that well-managed diabetes needn’t undermine your personal and professional life. I’m a world champion, after all!”

“As an elite athlete, I can hardly imagine anything better than joining the SNCF Athletes Programme. Karate isn’t recognized as a professional sport, and my sporting career won’t last my entire life. So I needed solutions that would bring greater security and serenity to my future, starting now. As for my SNCF co-workers, they’re great--it’s always a win-win. They pass on the tips and tricks I need to rise up through the ranks, and in return I share my sports experiences with them. There’s a very real sense of sharing.”