Tokyo 2021: Kokou Dodji Fanny, a Togolese table tennis player delighted at the Olympics

Togolese table tennis player Kokou Dodji Fanny during the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games. REUTERS - LUISA GONZALEZ

Text by: David Kalfa Follow

4 min

Kokou Dodji Fanny, representative of Togo at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, was eliminated in the first round of the table tennis tournament on July 24.

But, the day after the opening ceremony, this 34-year-old table tennis player who lives in Ney York only wants to remember the positive of his experience at the Olympics.

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From our special correspondent in Tokyo,

“ 

It's the best meeting of my life. 

»Kokou Dodji Fanny displays a smile of satisfaction despite his defeat in the first round of the table tennis tournament of the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games. The Togolese lost 4 sets to 0 (5-11, 6-11, 3-11 , 11-13) against Croatian Andrej Gacina, this July 24.

And he would still have prolonged the pleasure a bit, with a fifth round.

“ 

I had that last set

,” he slips.

But I let it slip through my fingers

 ”.

From baseball to ping pong

Whatever, Kokou Dodji Fanny lived fully the last days spent in Japan, a country he had never visited. The day before, he paraded during the opening ceremony of the 2021 Olympics. “ 

It's the pinnacle for any athlete

,” he relishes.

I have no words to explain it

 ”. He continues: “ 

It's a big dream that has come true. I have always trained with the Olympics in mind, but telling myself that my chances of going were low.

"

Kokou Dodji Fanny, however, wanted to believe it, because table tennis allowed him to grow.

When you lose at ping, you can only blame yourself, you can't blame anyone else

," he says.

I actually started with baseball.

I played for the national cadet team.

Baseball is a team sport.

When you make a mistake, you can blame it on other people, not like ping 

”.

Coach in New York

The height of the paradox, it is not his passion for baseball but that for table tennis that has allowed Kokou Dodji Fanny to live in the United States for six years. “ 

I'm a full-time coach in New York, with one of the biggest clubs in North America, Westchester

,” he explains. 

The owner of the club, Will Short, invited me to a tournament. Then he then told me that they liked me there and that I could stay if I wanted

 ”. What he did, because " 

with the ping, you can earn a bit of a living in the United States 

".

Nothing to do with the situation of his sport in Togo.

If I got to this level, it's because I live in the United States

,” he says.

This is one of the reasons why I manage to travel for certain competitions.

This allowed me to have this place for the Olympic Games

 ”.

Togolese table tennis player Kokou Dodji Fanny during the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games. REUTERS - LUISA GONZALEZ

From Tokyo to Paris?

The Olympian takes the opportunity to appeal to the Togolese leaders.

That they put a little bit of means

," he asks.

I'm not anti-football, but if they could put a tenth of football's resources into ping…

 ”

In the meantime, Kokou Dodji Fanny wants to continue living and training in the United States, with the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris as a goal.

“ 

I want to go ahead and do the Olympics again.

After what I've been through, I definitely want to come back,

 ”he smiles.

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