“She is a great hope for a medal. She has everything it takes to be the future Paralympic champion.” When your coach believes in you so strongly, you want to prove him right. At 19, taekwondo athlete Djelika Diallo almost made her coach Haby Niaré’s prophecy come true on Friday 30 August. After a pleasant run, she failed in the final against Brazilian favourite Ana Carolina Silva de Moura (12-5), winning a promising silver medal. “My goal was to get on the podium and I achieved it”he said after the medal ceremony.
Eight years later, this raw talent achieved the same feat as his mentor, who also won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Much to the delight of a Parisian crowd that cheered Djelika Diallo on until the end in a deafening atmosphere. “The crowd was really there. In disabled sports we never have such a strong crowd, so it changes our habits a bit. It was very beautiful to see.”reacted.
Just after reaching the quarter-finals, the young woman from Ile-de-France faced the 46-year-old reigning champion, the Danish Lisa Kjaer. Full of mastery, she snatched her qualification during the golden point. Haby Niaré cried.
In the semi-final, Djelika Diallo defeated China’s Yao Yinan in the last minute to reach the final (18-12). Rolling, shouting and waving to the crowd, the athlete-coach duo, almost ecstatic, showed their complicity, even in their expressions of joy. “I was in shockwas surprised. When I came back, I raised my fist to the audience and said to myself: “But that’s not me!” It was incredible. »
Djelika Diallo and Haby Niaré have been working together since the former reigning champion was appointed to the French team two years ago. “She is an older sister to me, she is my coach, she is my life, she is my star. She confided in her coach. This is really my example. »
“Give it all”
Throughout her day of competition, the experienced Haby Niaré gave instructions and encouragement, spreading her warrior mentality. “She tells me to never give up, not to give in and to give it my all”explained Djelika Diallo, before the Games in World.
Unlike her compatriot Sophie Caverzan, who was detected only three years ago at the age of 26, she has been practising taekwondo since she was 14. Born with neonatal paralysis of the brachial plexus (left arm), the very discreet teenager was discovered during a sports forum for the disabled, open to high school students, at the Charléty stadium in Paris.
You have 42.21% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
