Tokyo 2021: Ivorian Cheick Cissé falls from his throne in taekwondo
The Ivorian Cheikh Sallah Cissé, left prematurely at the 2021 Olympic Games. REUTERS - MURAD SEZER
Text by: David Kalfa Follow
2 min
Cheick Cissé, the first Olympic gold medalist in the history of Côte d'Ivoire, lost his title in the under 80 kg category on July 26, 2021 in Tokyo, at the Olympic Games.
He was eliminated by Moroccan Achraf Mahboubi in the round of 16.
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From our special correspondent in Tokyo,
The sky has fallen on his head.
Cheick Cissé Sallah Junior, who wrote the history of Ivorian sport at the
2016
Olympic Games
in Rio
, fell from his throne on July 26 to those of Tokyo 2021. The icon of African taekwondo was defeated by another fighter from the continent, Achraf Mahboubi.
The Moroccan won 21-11.
The one who won the first gold medal in the history of Côte d'Ivoire completely cracked during the third round (10-2).
Words failed him to explain this early elimination.
“
It's a very big disappointment but it's sport
, he tries in vain to evacuate.
There is never a defeat, because you always learn from defeats
”.
"A lot a lot of pressure"
Cheick Cissé still seeks an explanation for this terrible underperformance.
“
There was a lot of pressure
, he admits, about the expectations accompanying him.
But I don't know… […] To enter the competition with a fight like this, it is very difficult to digest.
We must now recover
”.
Five years ago, the native of Abidjan had won an anthology victory in Rio, in the final, snatching gold in the last second against Briton Lutalo Muhammad.
This Monday, Cheick Cissé left the Makuhari Messe Hall, site of the taekwondo events, through the back door ...
Interview by Olivier Pron,
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