The outdoor season is here — and so are the goals
The sand pit is calling. After a strong spring training camp in Talence, near Bordeaux, our athletes are stepping into the outdoor season with clear targets — and the honest reality of elite sport.
Ilona and Max: sharpened in Talence
Ilona Masson and Max Schymkowitz spent the spring break training intensively in Talence, one of the best athletics training facilities in France. The camp was exactly what this phase of the season demands: volume, technique refinement, and competition simulation under the guidance of head coach Michel Boels.
Ilona enters the outdoor season with one number on her mind: **14.14 metres**. That’s the qualifying standard for the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham this August — just eight centimetres beyond her personal best of 14.06m. It’s close. Close enough to chase, close enough to hurt if it doesn’t come. But after the work she put in this winter and spring, she’s in the best shape she’s ever been in heading into an outdoor campaign.
Max, still only 17 and in his first year as a U20 athlete, is developing fast. His long jump personal best of 7.32m already puts him in rare company for his age, and coach Michel Boels sees clear room for growth. The goal this season? A podium finish at the Belgian Senior Championships in long jump. It would be a remarkable achievement for a first-year U20 competing against the country’s best — and a sign of things to come.
Lucca: the comeback begins
Lucca Goossens has been through a frustrating period. After a promising indoor season and a personal best of 15.38m in triple jump, injury forced him to the sidelines. But Lucca is back in training and will be competing again this outdoor season. At 19, he has time on his side — and the hunger of someone who knows what he’s been missing.
This season won’t be about chasing limits. It will be about rebuilding rhythm, trusting the body again, and laying the groundwork for what’s to come.
Jessie and Florence: patience and uncertainty
Not every athlete’s story follows a straight line. Jessie Maduka is still recovering from injury and won’t resume full training until the autumn. It’s a long road, but we’ve seen Jessie’s resilience before — she’ll be back.
Florence Amon’s situation remains uncertain. We’re supporting her through this period and will share updates when the time is right.
The bigger picture
Elite sport is not a highlight reel. Behind every personal best is a winter of early mornings, setbacks that don’t make Instagram, and the daily choice to keep going. This outdoor season, some of our athletes will chase qualifying standards on the biggest stages in Europe and the world. Others will fight their way back from injury. All of them are doing the work. That’s what Beyond the Board is about. Not just the jumps that make the record books, but the process that gets you there.