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Jérémy Keryhuel participated this weekend in the 2019 Paris International Challenge, where Alessio Foconi of Italy won the individual stage at the most prestigious of the 8 men's foil World Cup stages. Jérémy Keryhuel who has chosen to shoot for Ivory Coast hopes to be present in 2020 at the Tokyo Olympics. He answered RFI's questions.
" I saw Zorro's poster and told my parents, " I want to do fencing ". Since the age of 5, Jérémy Keryhuel lives with a sword in his hand. The Franco-Ivorian fencer is today the only representative of Côte d'Ivoire for the international events in foil. The 24-year-old who was 37th in the world (73rd currently) dreams of competing in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. He will be able to emulate Gwladys Sakoa, who represented Côte d'Ivoire in 2016 in Rio.
"With Ivory Coast, I have more freedom"
" I was lucky to win competitions as a youngster and was able to join the junior and junior France group. Then I spent two years with seniors before making the decision to compete for Ivory Coast, "says Jérémy Keryhuel.
Ivory Coast had already tried to enlist the athlete in 2012. But he refused to continue his sports education. Today, the choice of the motherland is " natural " according to Jérémy Keryhuel. " It's a good thing for me, " says the one who has become a sports athlete of the Ivorian Olympic Committee since September 2018. He continues: " With Côte d'Ivoire, I have more freedom to do my internships . I travel and meet other people. It's difficult for the leaders in Ivory Coast to come to see me, because for many sports the federations do not really have enough money and I am in competition all over the world. They follow my results and we exchange by mail. It's a young federation and you have to be patient. My parents support me too. "
" Once I was welcomed at the airport as Didier Drogba "
On the African continent, fencing is primarily driven by the Maghreb countries. But Jeremy Keryhuel hopes things will change. " It will take time, because it takes years to make a good shooter ," he says. It is a difficult sport, one is alone and mentally it is not obvious. There is no tradition of fencing in Ivory Coast. Whenever I go to Ivory Coast, I try to transmit, to bring my experience . "
What is certain is that Jeremy Keryhuel does not regret his choice: " Once I was welcomed at the airport as Didier Drogba. I was given flowers, there was a press conference. I felt involved .
If he dreams of Olympics, Jérémy Keryhuel would see himself as champion of Africa from 2019. A challenge for this new year.
About Jérémy Keryhuel collected by Thomas Moulin