a prize pool and a sporting challenge for the son of Maxime Blasco, French soldier killed in Mali
To pay tribute to Sergeant Maxime Blasco who died in operation in Mali on September 24, the students of the Dijon gendarmerie non-commissioned officer school are organizing a sporting challenge. All of the money raised will go to his 8-year-old son, Ethan.
The students of the 2nd company of the Dijon gendarmerie school are organizing a race from October 13 to 20. An online sports challenge to raise funds for Sergeant Maxime Blasco. Explanations.
Wod Tigrex 2021
The challenge takes its name from Sergeant Blasco’s last operation. “We named it the tigrex wod because the “tigrex” is a military term that is used for field extraction of personnel via a Tiger helicopter. It had never been done in real life and it was he who had “baptized” this extraction so we wanted to pay homage to him by our action “, explains Marjorie Bernard, non-commissioned officer of the gendarmerie in Dijon.
A sporting event that coincides with the study project of these students. “In the gendarmerie, as part of the school for non-commissioned officers, we have a social challenge to do at the end of the year. (…) We wanted to bounce back from this unfortunate event because we are also soldiers. Sergeant Blasco was very athletic, we wanted to pay tribute to him with a challenge of this type ”, adds Marjorie Bernard.
A tribute to Sergeant Maxime Blasco
Maxime Blasco, who belonged to the 7th battalion of alpine hunters of Varces (Isère), was killed during a reconnaissance operation. “We wanted to pay tribute to him. We also wanted to help his son a little bit financially for his studies or other future needs., specifies Marjorie Bernard.
An online challenge
The challenge is to last a week until Wednesday, October 20 at 6 p.m. Applicants must register online. To participate, you just need to buy your bib for 3 euros. Then everyone is free to perform solo or group events. They take place in two stages: on the one hand, a running race and on the other hand, a series of exercises to be carried out in a minimum of time.
Symbolic figures
The proofs are, symbolically, constructed with figures linked to the history of Sergeant Blasco and his family. “The exercises were chosen based on his date of birth and unfortunately on his date of death ” adds Marjorie Bernard.
Thus, the race is 8 km and must be completed in 34 minutes. It corresponds to the age of Ethan (8 years old) and that of Maxime Blasco (34 years old).
To add to the challenge and underline the heroic action of Sergeant Blasco, participants are asked to stay suspended for 5 minutes from a bar. We remember that this is the length of time the soldier was suspended from the Tiger helicopter, coming to rescue him while he was injured. “The 5 minutes of suspension (in the challenge, editor’s note) relate to the way in which he proceeded to evacuate himself. He tied his two comrades to the helicopter with a lifeline and he clung to the strength of his arms to be taken out of the combat zone. That’s why we pay homage to him in this way ”.
500 euros collected for the moment
A few days before the end of this solidarity event, the organizers of the event have already raised nearly 500 euros.
Civilians and soldiers spontaneously wanted to participate. “We felt a bit of patriotism when we read the emails from the participants”, specifies Marjorie Bernard.
They say that they are touched by the cause, that they touched him (Ethan, editor’s note) will give the best of themselves for his dad and that by their meager contribution, they hope that it will make him happy.
A photo challenge for Ethan
Participants can take photos of their performance. At the end of the challenge, some of these pictures will be sent to Sergeant Blasco’s son. Another symbolic step to show the military support for this bereaved family. You can participate here.