The French U20 freestyle wrestling team, which had just played a tournament in Kahramanmaras (Turkey), found itself in the epicenter of the earthquake.
The seven athletes, the two coaches and a referee were due to leave last Monday, when they were awakened at dawn by the earthquake in their hotel which fortunately held the shock. All immediately left the building in the cold, the snow, the cries and the vision of horror of the dead and heavily injured.
“Our friends from the Turkish Wrestling Federation were quick and efficient in arranging the transfer of our team to Ankara, says Jean-Carl Fossati, deputy vice-president of the FFLDA, from where she took a plane for Paris the same day. We sympathize with our Turkish friends and their very badly affected national U20 wrestling team. At this time, out of thirty-five members of the Turkish delegation, seven are dead, twenty-five are missing and three are injured. The French federation also wishes to pay tribute to our coaches Vincent Vidal and Luca Lampis for their responsiveness in action and the comfort they have brought to our young athletes. »
A psychological cell was waiting for the France team at Roissy.