Imagine winning team gold for France at the 2025 Junior World Championships, standing on top of the podium again at the 2025 European Youth Olympic Festival, and making your country proud with an EYOF gold medal. Elena Colas did all of that at just 15. She was meant to be the face of a new generation of French gymnastics. Instead, her mother revealed that what this young gymnast got was far from a celebration.

Recently Elena’s mother, Carole Colas, the coach of a gymnastics club called Avoine Beaumont, where Elena first entered the sport when she was only three years old, made an emotional statement claiming that the federation harassed her daughter over the years and mistreated her, a fact that could make her change nationality.

It started with one word: “GOODBYE!!!” Carole then explained that her daughter had just received an invitation to attend a training camp in Martinique. On the surface, it sounded like a great opportunity. But for their family, it was not. As she wrote, “This is the last straw for Elena, our family, our club, and her coaches. The French Gymnastics Federation (FFGym) has won; we’re giving up.”

She went on to express her frustration, saying that despite Colas’ achievements, including bringing France Junior World and European titles, it still was not enough; her efforts continued to be overlooked.

“Being the best in France for years is useless,” Carole wrote. “Elena is a pawn, a puppet. The French Gymnastics Federation takes her notes, her talent, her work, and all the knowledge of the Avoine club. Yes, the ABGym club pays the coaches, and the French Gymnastics Federation reaps the glory.”

Carole also pointed out that her daughter was once again called to a national training camp without her personal coaches. Elena was named to the camp alongside Lorette Charpy, Lola Chassat, Perla Denechère, Ming Gherardi Van Eijken, Romane Hamelin, and Alizee Letrange Mouakit, but only Colas and Denéchère were asked to attend without coach support.

With tensions rising, Elena may not take part in what would have been her first national team training camp as a senior, starting January 1, 2026.

“Despite our meeting with the federation on September 4,” she wrote, “despite my previous statements, and even despite a positive statement from the National Sports Agency, Elena is not being listened to. It breaks our hearts, but we have to face the facts.”

Her message ended with an emotional goodbye. “FFGYM, you do not want Elena. FFGYM, you do not deserve Elena, so BYE BYE. Farewell France. Change is now. However, you will lose Elena and maybe another one, but that will not bring back the one you destroyed and defend today.”

She concluded her statement by naming other gymnasts she says were harmed by the system, including Kaylia Nemour, the reigning Olympic uneven bars champion who switched her allegiance to Algeria after a protracted dispute with the French federation.

“I am a good mother, so I will not let my girl go like this. Gymnastics is just one part of life,” finished Carole. However, no details have been provided about which country Elena could represent or how far along the process has gotten.

If that happens, France would not just be losing a teenage star but facing uncomfortable questions about how many talents it can afford to push away before the system itself is forced to change.

But losing talent is just one aspect of the multi pronged problems the French federation is facing.

One fall cost a rising Olympic gymnast her dream

Melanie de Jesus dos Santos, who was part of France’s bronze medal-winning team at the 2023 World Championships, trained for two years for the Paris Olympics. She also relocated to Houston to practice, with high hopes as one of France’s leading gymnasts.

However, during the Games, she fell on the uneven bars, which, along with various errors, meant the French team did not advance to the team finals. That single moment changed everything.

Earlier this month, the gymnast revealed that the support surrounding her career collapsed almost overnight. “Today, I have nothing,” she admitted. “It’s very different from before the Games.”

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Before Paris, de Jesus dos Santos was backed by major sponsors including Dior, Adidas, LVMH, and Venus. After the Olympics, many of those contracts came to an end, leaving her financially exposed in a sport where athletes don’t always have financial security.

“After the Games… you feel a little lonely,” she explained. “No one follows you anymore. You’re a little abandoned.” With no stable income, she returned to Martinique, moved back in with her parents, and later accepted a contract role with the Martinique Regional Gymnastics Committee just to stay afloat. Beyond the financial struggle, the experience forced her to confront a deeper emotional crisis.

She did not hesitate to tell the world that she has no idea how it feels to live without gymnastics, and she wonders what awaits. “I don’t know the world of work. I’ve never worked,” she said.

Although de Jesus dos Santos claims not to be retiring, she remains unsure about going back to elite competition after the series of controversies the French federation subjected its gymnasts to in the lead-up to the Games. She will continue to train at home without any pressure instead.