Béatrice Edwige, the essential bulwark of French handball – archyde

When the blue boat rocks, it is she who harangues the troops. An essential cog for the collective. At 33, the pivot Béatrice Edwige is part of the executives of the French handball team, which made its debut on Friday, December 3, against Angola, at the world championships in Granollers, near Barcelona. The patron of the defense of the Blue is renowned for her power. From the height of her 1.82 m, it is true that the Guyanese imposes some, and not only on her adversaries.

A vision that the coach of the France team, Olivier Krumbholz, who launched it into the deep end in 2013, wishes to qualify. “We see her as a physical player, but defending well requires technical qualities, he insists. You have to know how to move in the right timing by orienting your body. She also has tactical qualities, it is often she who drives the counter-attacks. Béatrice is my privileged relay in the field. “

With the Blue, Edwige won everything: the World Cup, in 2017, the Euro, in 2018, and, above all, Olympic gold in Tokyo, this summer. Without forgetting a silver medal in Rio, in 2016, and, in club, several national titles with Metz Handball. Quite simply one of the finest achievements in French sport.

“When the others are resting, she will run”

“Serious”, “hardworking”, “hardworking” and ” perfectionist ” are the qualifiers that come back to the mouths of her teammates. “When the others are resting, she will run. She never stops ”, tells the goalkeeper Laura Glauser, who worked with her in Metz, then in blue. “She watches a lot of videos of her opponents and shares her analyzes with other defenders. She works more than the others ”, confirms Olivier Krumbholz. What does the person think about it? She laughs at it. “I am demanding and boring, I am ‘exichante'”, she smiles.

Big mouth, Béatrice Edwige? In any case, she is not the type to elude the development. “There is a good atmosphere in the France team, she says, but the high level requires rigor and requirement. We make a lot of sacrifices, we are here to win. I don’t hesitate to remind young players of this when necessary. “

“To be a good defender, you must not be afraid of contact. I like the roughness of this post ”

From the last rampart of Les Bleues, guard Laura Glauser sketches a Janus-style portrait: “At first, I couldn’t stand it. I found her haughty and aggressive, she confides. Then, I came to understand her. She is completely different in the privacy. She has a pig character, but she is a kind, caring, caring girl. And someone we can laugh with. ”

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