Lodz (Poland) (AFP)
"I am Rubén Limardo Gascon, Olympic champion," says the Venezuelan fencer with a smile, a big cooler on his back and a bike placed at his feet, in Lodz in Poland where he makes ends meet as a meal delivery man.
Rubén Limardo has already qualified for the Tokyo Games, but he faces a major obstacle: due to the crisis in his country and the pandemic, he had to find a solution to provide for his family.
Also, after his daily training, he travels the city for an online meal delivery platform.
"If you are in Lodz, Poland, and you order from Uber Eats, it is possible that your food will be delivered to you by a champion who has decided to never give up," the fencer himself revealed on his Twitter account.
His post caused a stir in sports circles and among fans of this swordsman who, in London in 2012, became the second Venezuelan Olympic champion, 44 years after boxer Francisco Rodríguez.
Especially since he is not the only one to have to fight on a bike to pursue his Olympic dream: twenty other members of the Venezuelan fencing team are based in Lodz.
"We are all delivery people. You have to earn your own bread, and it's a job like any other," he told AFP.
- Industrial Zone -
Five mornings a week, they meet in a weapons room, in an almost abandoned industrial zone.
Their white outfits contrast with the yellow-blue-red colors of their country which dominate the decor of this former production workshop.
At the entrance, a pile of bikes and green isothermal coolers await the 1 p.m. shot where the fencers take a shower and a snack, before putting on a raincoat and a hat, and facing the cold. of Polish autumn.
"We receive very little money from Venezuela where it is the crisis. And the pandemic has changed everything: there are no competitions, the Tokyo Olympics are postponed, sponsors say they are going to us again pay after the new year, so you have to earn money in the streets, ”concludes Limardo.
But, "finally, we can adapt this job to our hours of sport, and even consider it as an extension of training," he says optimistically.
He thus rides around fifty kilometers a day to deliver orders, earning around one hundred euros per week.
"It allows us to live, to pursue studies. We help each other in training, to pay the rent, everyone works to finance the whole group ... I have my wife and my two children. We have to buy things. clothes, medicines ", he explains in Polish which he speaks fluently.
- Forward!
-
Rubén Limardo has lived in Poland for 19 years, encouraged by an uncle who imagined a center for Venezuelan fencers in this European country in full economic boom since the fall of communism and not too expensive yet.
"I come from a family that has never been rich and there (in Venezuela) there are a lot of children who have dreams. That's why I have since created my foundation to help young people who want to go far in fencing, "he says.
He also created a club to be able to participate in local tournaments and a children's fencing school in Lodz.
The pandemic has changed everything.
"It's hard, but we continue to work," he admits.
A large poster serves as a small Spanish-Polish dictionary: let's go!
forward!
right, left, do you want water? ...
"But above all, we train to be ready to resume competition at any time," insists Limardo, eliminated in the 2nd round of the Rio 2016 Olympics.
"The dream is still there. Every time I make a delivery I tell myself that it will help me win this medal that I want in Tokyo in 2021. And continue in Paris".
© 2020 AFP