Figure of the Bleues (147 selections), member of the "Braqueuses" European champions in 2009 and silver medalists at the 2012 Olympics, Yacoubou considers herself "one of the first young women to have assumed (her) motherhood in an environment where daring to become a mother still has its share of obstacles and prejudices".

The interior of Tarbes details her story in her autobiography "Giant" (Editions de l'Archipel), that of a pivot of 1.90 m born 36 years ago in Benin and named captain of the Blue for the Olympics. 2016.

She is then the mother of her first child, Hope, whom she adopted a few years earlier.

She feels that "it is necessary, so that I can perform, that Hope can accompany me during the gatherings" in the France team, many in this Olympic year, between the qualifying tournament and the Games (in Rio).

After negotiation, she obtains from the supervision that her son accompanies her during the gatherings in France and the qualification tournament, which takes place there, that is to say “about six weeks” out of the three months spent that year in selection.

French basketball player Isabelle Yacoubou poses during a photo shoot in Paris, February 27, 2023 © JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP/Archives

During training, her then husband, Andrea, took care of her and she did not benefit from any arranged training.

In the USA, "no debate"

However, she regrets having had to "fight", whereas in the United States the presence of young children with their mothers during travel "is not a matter of debate" according to her.

"When Candace Parker (a great American player of the 2010s, editor's note) gave birth, her baby and her companion traveled with her all season. There are also examples in the countries of the North" she supports.

Proof that there is still a long way to go on the subject, Valériane Vukosavljevic, whom she considers her "little sister", gave up the World Cup in Australia in September 2022 with the France team, judging that "the optimal conditions “was not reunited to take her six-month-old daughter there, even if “the Federation had had an attentive ear” to her wishes.

Yacoubou, whose nickname "Baby Shaq" or "Shaqoubou" is linked to his game made of power and mobility close to that of Shaquille O'Neal, experienced this episode as "a disappointment".

France's Isabelle Yacoubou (c.) is blocked by American Brittney Griner (r.) during the semi-final of the Rio Olympics women's basketball tournament between France and the United States in Rio de Janeiro, August 18, 2016 © Mark RALSTON / AFP/Archives

When she gave birth to her daughter Lyna, in 2018, she had put an end to her international career (after the 2016 Olympics) in order to devote more time to her family.

She then moved to Schio, Italy.

But despite her closeness to the president, she was dizzy when she became pregnant: "The first quarter of an hour, I thought about having an abortion. What am I going to do? I was afraid to announce it to my employer."

Breastfeed at all costs

For lack of guarantees, Yacoubou will choose, after a sabbatical season, to join Bourges, the biggest French club.

She wants to continue breastfeeding Lyna at all costs.

She then invests in a "portable freezer" to be able to express and store her milk, discovers "milk pumps and all the exciting panoply of breastfeeding mothers".

Without being supported in its approach by the club "which makes me understand, through the doctor, that it would be good if I stopped breastfeeding to lose weight, resume more intense physical activity."

"For me, it was non-negotiable", she says, also remembering her first trips without her daughter, "inconsolable" to be separated from her, "to have milk surges and not being able to nurture (...) Plus loads of postpartum hormones that take you."

She decides in the summer of 2022 to leave the "Tangos" to find Tarbes, the club of her professional debut, where she can better lead family life and sports career.

With nevertheless arrangements to be able to take care of Lyna (5 years old) and Hope (11).

For her, only one training per day (and not two), and the collective session is fixed at the end of the morning, and not during the day, so that she can go after school.

French basketball player Isabelle Yacoubou poses during a photo shoot in Paris, February 27, 2023 © JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP/Archives

After having devoted her early afternoon to logging the exam for her coaching diploma, a new career that she intends to embrace in the summer of 2024.

© 2023 AFP