In celebration of the 2024 Olympic Games, come meet Anne Dubndibu, a sports coach with a rewarding career. Discover her career path in the world of sports.

Entrepreneurship is a vast adventure, which requires as much passion as motivation.

On the occasion of the Olympic Games, celebrated from July 26 to August 11, 2024 in Paris, we met and interviewed Anne Dubndibu, author, coach, yoga teacher, athlete and content creator, Anne explains to us how she got into entrepreneurship while practicing her passion: sport! Between career paths, projects and advice, discover how she managed to retrain and get started!

Can you introduce yourself? What is your name and what do you do for a living?

My name is Anne Dubndidu, and I have been a content creator and sports coach for over 5 years! My approach is multi-sport and caring, because it is important to me to support all types of women who are looking to play sports, with a focus on sport through pleasure rather than performance.

I provide support for physical preparation, various sports such as running, as well as injury prevention. I also place importance on the mind and diet, real support points for everyday life! What I want to convey is a broad approach that can support all types of women in the challenges they set for themselves as well as in their daily lives.

Can you tell me about your background? How did you get to where you are today?

At the end of my studies, unable to find a job that suited me, I started a blog in which I created content, while also training as a sports coach.

Little by little, the blog started to really appeal, and it allowed me to deepen my fields of action. I obtained my diploma as a sports coach, followed by training to teach yoga. I wrote several books on running, nutrition and meditation, yoga and femininity. If I started and have continued until today in this path, it is because sport has many benefits, and it is important to me that women do not miss out on these great contributions! Today, I maintain the blog, which allows me to be my own business and to be close to the people I support.

When did you start playing sports, and when did you start to enjoy it?

You should know that I hated sport at first! I had no particular attraction to this world, despite having a high-level sports partner. In fact, I considered that sport didn't have any particular benefits and that it was necessarily easy and accessible.

One day, my partner challenged me to a 30-minute run, during which I realized something: Sport isn't that easy! I was disturbed to realize that, even though I was in my twenties, I had great difficulty running even a short distance. What a shock!

And then, I went to work for a year in Los Angeles. At my job, as in California in general, there was a real place dedicated to the practice of sport, an attraction that started to make me think and really change my vision of this field. So I started running in this encouraging atmosphere, and I was hooked. Like everyone else, the beginnings were laborious, but I quickly realized how much it gave me confidence in myself and in my physical and mental abilities. It was a turning point: Sport has many benefits, both for physical health and mental well-being.

What sports do you play?

I practice many sports that bring me a lot! I started with running, then I started swimming, hiking and trail running. These are endurance sports that allow me to progress at my own pace.

Why did you choose to explore yoga as a complement to the other sports you practice?

I started yoga in the UK because my university offered accessible classes. I loved it! The Anglo-Saxon practice is interesting because it approaches yoga as a true introspection of oneself.

Over the years, sports have brought with them their inevitable share of injuries. When you practice sports intensively and over the long term, you can experience joint or mobility issues. Practicing yoga has been a wonderful solution to counteract these negative aspects of endurance sports.

What specific benefits have you seen from adding yoga to your daily routine?

There are many benefits that are quickly felt! First, practicing yoga allows you to work on your breathing, which helps a lot when swimming or at altitude. It also allows you to work on your flexibility in case of stiffness.

Meditation allows you to enter a state of semi-sleep, which is very useful for taking micro naps on command during ultra trails. Generally, endurance sports like running or cycling lead to problems such as pain and even physical injuries. And yoga is the best way to deal with this, and in a more fun way than a traditional stretching session!

Can you share a personal experience where yoga had a significant impact on a key moment in your athletic career?

During my third marathon, I suffered a fracture in the neck of my femur. At that time, I was exercising too much, to the point of complete burnout. My yoga teacher at the time advised me to refocus and calm my overheated mind with yoga.

That's when I started my training. It helped me enormously, especially from a psychological point of view! Until then, I was focused on performance, demonstrating strength, and the desire to always go further. Thanks to regular yoga practice, I was able to review my approach to sport. It did me a lot of good, and above all, it made me understand that if I did sporting activities, it was above all for pleasure!

Tell us about the yoga poses you find particularly beneficial for athletes. Are there any favorite poses you recommend?

For me, the Sun Salutation and Moon Salutation are the best. They are accessible, quick, and simple. They work on flexibility, especially with the Goddess pose, and opening the shoulders and hips. These poses form a very good foundation, I recommend them!

What's your perfect workout outfit?

I'm a fan of thigh-high boots. They're tight-fitting but not too short, perfect for running! Especially thigh-high yoga boots, which are often incredibly comfortable.

Top-wise, I love tank tops with built-in bras for extra support. I admit it's pretty hard to find tops that provide enough support while still being comfortable!

For those new to yoga, what recommendations would you give to get started and gradually integrate yoga into their exercise routine?

I know a lot of people are afraid to go to the studio to start.

The best advice I can give is to go for it! By trying different classes, with different teachers and different approaches, you can understand what you don't like and find what you do. You just have to go at your own pace and with an open mind. That's how you find that little gem!

Do you have any specific advice for those who want to further explore the synergy between yoga and other sports?

You have to take the plunge, without telling yourself that you don't have to do it for hours and hours. Sport is above all about pleasure rather than performance! And yoga is the practice where we best access this dimension of pleasure.

If you enjoyed Anne Dubndidu's journey and vision, you can find more information on her blog , and share a yoga session with her thanks to her online yoga coaching !