12th Commission de la Jeunesse et des Sports de l'Océan Indien (CJSOI) Games 2022 |15 December 2022

The Seychelles delegation upon its return yesterday (Photo: Louis Toussaint)

Seychelles’ contingent returns home

The Seychelles delegation from the 12th Commission de la Jeunesse et des Sports de l'Océan Indien (CJSOI) Games held between December 4-11 in Mauritius, returned home yesterday on board a chartered Air Seychelles flight, finishing third overall behind Reunion who dominated the medals table, and hosts Mauritius who finished second.

In total, Team Seychelles collected 45 medals – 12 gold, 12 silver and 21 bronze.

The Seychelles delegation was welcomed at the Seychelles International Airport by Minister for Youth, Sports and family Marie-Celine Zialor who is also the president of the CJSOI, principal secretary for education services Merna Eulentin, along with family members and friends.

At the 12th Games, female athletes produced the most outstanding results for Seychelles with swimmer Khema Elizabeth clinching eight medals – three gold, one silver and four bronze – and handisports athlete Dinara Bonne winning two gold medals in athletics.

Proud of her achievement, Elizabeth said it is all due to her hard work in preparing for the Games.

She noted that she even persisted through a shoulder injury, and that she is equally proud of all the performances of the other local athletes at the Games.

As for Bonne, she dedicated her achievement to her parents and her coach whom she said pushed and motivated her to train hard for the event.

She even added that she was mentally prepared and confident that she would perform well.

Team Seychelles, through principal secretary for youth and sports Ralph Jean-Louis, also brought home the Games flag since Seychelles will play host for the 13th Games in 2025.

PS Jean-Louis received the flag during the closing ceremony of the 12th Games on Sunday at the Côte-d’Or National Stadium from Mauritian Minister Jean Christophe Stephan Toussaint.

Roland Duval