AS the sun sets and the West African heat begins to subside, the village of Mlomp in southern Senegal comes alive with the rhythmic beats of Afrobeats music. Against a backdrop of swaying palm trees, dozens of teenagers, dressed in colourful jerseys, engage in an intense wrestling practice. This scene is common across Senegal, where wrestling—known locally as laamb—is not just a sport but a cultural institution. Wrestlers in Senegal are revered as heroes, and the sport has been an integral part of village life for centuries.
However, in most parts of the country, wrestling remains an exclusively male domain. There is one notable exception: the Casamance region, home to the Jola ethnic group, where women have traditionally wrestled alongside men. In a recent training session in Mlomp, a significant number of the athletes on the sandy training ground were young girls.
‘It’s in our blood,’ says Isabelle Sambou, a 43-year-old coach who is no stranger to breaking barriers. Sambou is a two-time Olympian and a nine-time African wrestling champion, a testament to her skill and determination. ‘In our village, girls wrestle. My mom was a wrestler, my aunts were wrestlers,’ shed tells The Associated Press (AP).
However, even in Casamance, the cultural expectation is that women will give up wrestling once they marry, dedicating themselves entirely to family life—a role that is deeply ingrained in Senegalese society, regardless of ethnicity or religion.
Sambou’s aunt, Awa Sy, now in her 80s, was once the village wrestling champion. She recalls her youth with pride, recounting how she could even defeat some men. ‘I liked wrestling because it made me feel strong,’ she says, standing outside her modest home surrounded by rice fields and mangroves. Like many women before her, Sy stopped wrestling when she married, a decision she never questioned at the time.
But Isabelle Sambou’s story is different. Despite her small stature and humble demeanour, Sambou’s strength and determination have propelled her to defy societal norms and become a professional athlete. Her journey began when a coach noticed her talent during a competition at the annual Festival of the King of Oussouye, one of the few events where women were allowed to compete. The coach suggested she try Olympic wrestling, which has a female national team. Initially hesitant, Sambou only agreed after her older brother encouraged her to pursue the opportunity.
This decision would change her life. Wrestling took Sambou, who did not finish primary school, to the Olympic Games in London and Rio de Janeiro, where she competed against the world’s best. Though she did not win a medal, her success as a professional female athlete in a conservative society came at a cost.
‘If you are a female wrestler, people are going to make fun of you,’ Sambou tells AP, recalling the taunts and ridicule she faced in parts of Senegal outside her home region. ‘When I walked around in shorts, people would say, “Look, is it a woman or a boy?”’ Others claimed that wrestling would alter her body and make her less feminine.
These comments could have been discouraging, but Sambou remained steadfast. ‘It can get to your head,’ she admits. ‘But I tell myself: They don’t know what they are talking about. It’s in my blood, and it brought me where I am today.’
In 2016, as she approached her mid-30s, Sambou decided to retire from professional sports and return to her village. She had hoped to start a new chapter—perhaps finding a job or starting a family—but life had other plans.
Instead of settling down, Sambou dedicated herself to coaching the next generation of wrestlers. She dreams of discovering ‘future Isabelles,’ girls who can achieve what she could not—winning an Olympic medal. However, her mission is fraught with challenges. Women’s sports are often underfunded, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In Sambou’s village, there are no gyms for strength training, no specialized wrestling shoes, and no mats—only sandy ground to train on.
Despite these obstacles, Sambou’s students have thrived. At the African youth wrestling championship held in Dakar in June, her students brought home 10 medals, including six golds. ‘Despite everything, they did magnificent work,’ Sambou says with pride.
Yet, her success in nurturing young talent has not translated into financial security. Senegal lacks a pension system for retired professional athletes, and Sambou’s limited formal education complicates her career as a coach. While she assists in coaching the national wrestling team, both men and women, it is on a voluntary basis. To make ends meet, she works in a small shop and cleans houses.
‘I gave everything to wrestling, to my country,’ Sambou reflects. ‘Now I don’t have anything. I don’t even have my own house. It hurts a bit.’
As she sits outside the home she shares with relatives, surrounded by posters of her past championships, Sambou’s love for the sport remains undiminished. ‘It’s difficult to be a professional athlete. You have to leave everything behind,’ she says. ‘And then you stop, and you come back here and you sit, without anything to do.’
But times are changing, and so is the perception of women in Senegalese society. Increasingly, parents are seeking out Sambou to coach their children, regardless of gender—even if it’s still for free. Her 17-year-old niece, Mame Marie Sambou, recently won a gold medal at the youth championship in Dakar. Her dream is to become a professional wrestler and compete on the international stage. The ultimate test will come in two years when Senegal hosts the Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympic event ever organized on African soil.
‘It’s my aunt who encouraged me to start wrestling,’ Mame Marie says. ‘When I started, many people were saying they had never seen a girl wrestle. But I never listened to them. I want to be like her.’
In a society where tradition often dictates the roles of women, Sambou and her niece are breaking barriers and redefining what is possible. Their journey is not just about wrestling; it’s about challenging norms, inspiring future generations, and proving that women can excel in any arena they choose.
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