22nd May 2010 09:20
In the 15th in a series of profiles of the national winners of the inaugural Women's Leadership Awards, European Athletics speaks to France's Odile Diagana.
The role of media in the promotion of sport has been talked about many times and there are no two words about the fact that exposure remains the life-blood of sports in general and athletics in particular. However it's the issue of sorting out the existing imbalance in the coverage of female athletes' vis-í -vis their male counterparts that has been on the top of agenda for Diagana, the national winner of European Athletics Women's Leadership Awards from France.
'The contributions of female athletes has traditionally been under-reported in the media, although that has changed in recent years but there is still a long way to go before we reach the stage of true gender equity in this respect,' said Diagana.
'This imbalance has a snowball effect, the lack of media coverage results in less exposure for women excelling in the sport. That leads to lack of recognition, sponsorship, and eventually motivation. This forces a number of women to drop out of sports all-together. This has to be addressed,' she added.
However in her personal life, such roadblocks have only inspired Diagana to try harder and steer her career in the direction she wanted. Beginning as an athlete at the age of eight, she went on to represent France at the Olympic Games in Heptathlon. Upon completion of her career as an athlete, Diagana naturally moved into multiple professional positions linked to athletics.
She started off with a high profile position with Nike in 1997 and helped develop a strong partnership with athletics. However after just four years, Diagana realised that her true passion and comfort in the profession laid elsewhere - working directly with athletes.
She finds working with athletes a gratifying experience because of her own experience as an athlete. 'I owe my confidence and growth - both professional and personal - to the sport. I used to be an introvert, but athletics changed all that.'
Diagana started what she refers as her 'second innings' as a sports teacher in school and went on to join the French athletics federation as the director of communications, a role she served in until 2008.
The position helped her address the cause of French athletes, female athletes in particular, in the national media. She also sat on the executive committee of the French federation for four years.
After leaving the French federation in 2008, Diagana is now pursuing a dream with her husband, who also used to be an elite athlete, of developing a high-level training and sport centre near Nice, France.
'I believe this will help me be part of the journey of future elite athletes,' she said.
She aspires to see a higher number of woman taking important roles in athletics in the coming years.
Being a coach by training, Diagana sees women coaches adding significant value to young athletes. 'I wish there were not so few women coaches because they really have something to offer, including a different psychological approach from their male counterparts.'
In addition to her new business venture, Diagana also serves on the steering committee of the Nice Athletics Club and is an active member of of Nid d'Espoir, a non-profit French/Cameroonian organisation.
Above all, Diagana hopes to see growth for women in sport in the future, so their lives can be positively impacted in much of the same way as her own life.