For the candidates who are preparing to parade on the Champs-Elysées on July 14, the moment is symbolic.

Awa, police officer and trainer, pays particular attention to the quality of the preparation of those selected.

"I want them to be perfect, dignified, straight in their sneakers," she told Europe 1. Among her candidates, the youngest to parade is a 16-year-old boy. 

TESTIMONY

Five thousand participants, including 4,300 soldiers on foot, 73 planes, 24 helicopters, 221 vehicles and 200 horses of the Republican Guard are mobilized for this 2021 edition of the July 14 military parade.

For the young soldiers and police officers preparing to march, the stress is intense and the moment unique.

Europe 1 met Awa, a police trainer who herself has already taken part in the parade.

For 15 days, this Frenchwoman of Senegalese origin has been preparing the selected ones to walk straight and line up.

“I want them to be perfect, dignified, upright in their sneakers,” he says.

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"They march for the national police and the honor of France"

"The police are not a military institution, we are particularly watched by others because some think that we have nothing to do on the Champs-Elysées", she explains.

A flawless show is therefore a priority for her.

"I want to show that we have our place here," adds the trainer.

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The policewoman has the impression that her goal has been reached, the participants are ready.

"But I don't tell them too much to keep them focused until the end," Awa emphasizes.

"They do not march for themselves, they march for us, for their comrades who were not selected, for the national police and the honor of France," she recalls.

The youngest to parade

Among the candidates prepared by the trainer, a 16-year-old boy.

This Wednesday he will be the youngest to parade on the "most beautiful avenue in the world".

"It is a privilege and an honor to participate in July 14, at the age of 16", he explains at the microphone of Europe 1. The young man, nicknamed "Bidou" because the youngest of the company, holds his vocation from his grandfather.

"He went through the foam school 50 years ago, in 1971. He told me about it that made me want to join this school to join the army."

To the rhythm of military music, he will have a very special thought for his elder brother.