Dorra Mahfoudhi, the Tunisian who jumps from pole to pole

Text by: David Kalfa Follow

Tunisian Dorra Mahfoudhi is African pole vault champion. Pending the return of athletic competitions, this medical student has spent part of her free time fighting Covid-19 in her country in recent weeks. Meet.

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Dorra Mahfoudhi will never forget this spring night 2020 during which she helped give life. This athlete, queen of the pole vault in Africa, then worked for the SAMU of Tunis, in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis . That morning, a woman could not go to the hospital to give birth, because of the country's curfew. "  We got the call at 4:00. This lady was already in labor,  ”says the Tunisian, who then goes there with an emergency physician assistant. “  We contributed to the home birth, with the whole family around. And everything went very well ! It was a very happy event , she marvels. It changed cardiac arrest, serious accidents, coronavirus  ”.

In the first line

In recent months, almost all major athletics competitions have been canceled or postponed due to the pandemic, including the 2020 African Championships during which Dorra Mahfoudhi had to defend her title. The latter also found herself confined to Tunisia, who was to return to France to prepare for the rest of the season. “  Since I was stuck doing nothing, and seeing my friends and colleagues working in the midst of a crisis, I wanted to help. I knew I would be more helpful in hospitals , says the 26-year-old. There was a call from our Ministry of Health, a call to those who had finished their second medical school, like me. They were invited to join the "army of white coats". I was very happy to have this opportunity  ”.

Dorra Mahfoudhi is then in the front line, with the SAMU. "  We take samples for suspected cases ," she explains. Positive patients are transported from one facility to another, if they need to go to the ICU or go to a hospital. The calls exploded. Thousands a day are received  ”.

However, the pole vaulter does not have to think too much before taking the plunge. "  At the very beginning, it's true that it stressed me a little ," she concedes. I wondered if I was really ready. But since I do not live with my parents, currently, I have not been afraid of contaminating them. And then I knew there were the necessary means of protection. At the SAMU, there have already been infected people. So we know that the risk is there, even if we protect ourselves. But, after a few days and after reflection, we really manage to forget these risks  ”.

A second vocation

Despite this very enriching experience, Dorra Mahfoudhi does not intend to refocus on her medical studies, put a little aside in recent months. "  What I do now with the SAMU allows me to help and learn for my medical career ," she says. But it also helps me to keep busy because I am stranded in Tunisia  ”.

For this daughter of a pediatrician, athletics is a second vocation, even if it came much later. Dorra Mahfoudhi has indeed joined the team of her prestigious high school, partly to kill boredom. And it was during a school championship that a coach noticed it. “  I was only doing long jump and sprinting. But he saw my way of running with tiptoe and legs outstretched. He immediately knew that I had done gymnastics in the past. He immediately offered to join a pole vault club , she recalls. At first, I refused. I was still young and I lived in a boarding school. I never traveled alone in the capital. I had never taken the metro. In addition, the studies in my high school were really hard. But the coach really insisted. And I will always thank him !  "

The passion for the pole, it came in stride. “  After two months, I had already won the Tunisian Championships , narrates the interested party. The following year, I was able to qualify for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. It was from that moment that I really fell in love with pole vaulting and athletics in general. Because I saw what it was internationally  ”.

Obstacles

The following ? A dozen international medals [1] , including three in gold, and a constant progression, with two highlights: his continental coronation in 2018 in Asaba and his victorious leap to 4 meters 31 at the African Games in Rabat. A performance that brings it closer to the African record (4 meters 42) held by the South African Elmarie Gerryts since 2000. "  The African record is only a step towards the Tokyo Games  ", estimates- it however.

Unfortunately for the champion, the Covid-19 crisis slowed down her projects. "  It's true that I was a little disappointed because I had started my winter season well ," she sighs. I had broken my indoor record [4m 10, February 22, Editor's note] and I had huge prospects for the rest of the season. In addition, for once, we had planned everything in advance, until this summer and at the African Championships  ”.

A frustration all the greater as Dorra Mahfoudhi intended to capitalize on the excellent results of 2018 in Asaba [2] , she who lives and prepares with fairly limited financial resources. "  It's extremely hard to be a pole vaulter ," she says. Not just in Tunisia, but everywhere in Africa. It is not a discipline that attracts a lot of audiences and athletes. It is really expensive for countries that do not necessarily have the means, in sub-Saharan Africa. Even in North Africa, we do not always have the necessary means  ”.

But an intact motivation

Especially since not everyone is lucky enough to have a long necklace in their garden, to perfect their technique on a daily basis, like the star of the discipline, the Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie. "  In these cases, we say to ourselves  :" But why does he have a saltire at home when he has three saltire in the room where he trains? "Laughs the Tunisian. The best athletes have necklaces at home. Some have had them installed in their homes on this occasion. They are really lucky  . ”

In recent months, confinement or not, training properly has sometimes been complicated. Dorra Mahfoudhi therefore did her best to keep fit. But, despite all these difficulties, she still sets the bar as high: "  I have goals that I want to achieve as an athlete, including breaking the African record and competing in the World Championships or the Olympic Games. It is true that current conditions are slowing me down. But that won't push me far from the fields and the track.  "

[1] Gold medals at the African Games 2011 and 2019, at the African Championships 2018 and at the Pan-Arab Championships 2017 and 2019. Silver medals at the Pan-Arab Championships 2011, at the African Games 2015 and at the African Championships 2016. Medals bronze at the 2012 and 2014 African Championships, at the 2013 Pan Arab Championships.

[2] The pole vaulters, including Dorra Mahfoudhi, won four of the five medals won by Tunisia at the 2018 African Championships.

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