In 1984, Lamine Gueye carved out a piece of Olympic history in Sarajevo by becoming the first black African to compete in the Winter Games.
More than four decades later, he strapped on his skis and returned to the same slopes for a new documentary about the Senegalese sportsman and his legacy.
A few weeks before the Milan-Cortina Olympics open on Friday next week, Gueye arrived back in the Bosnian capital for the film project and found a city that still embraced him.
Photo: AFP
“You always remember your first time. The first time you fall in love, your first job, your first paycheck,” the cheerful 65-year-old, who retired from skiing some two decades ago, told reporters.
“For me, it was my first Olympic Games, and it was absolutely unforgettable,” he added.
News of his return quickly spread through a city that takes pride in hosting the last major sporting event of the former Yugoslavia, of which Bosnia was then a part.
Photo: AFP
In between shoots, as he explored its cobbled lanes, lined with artisan shops and dotted with impressive mosques and churches, he was routinely stopped by fans asking for photographs.
“In 1984, I didn’t have a minute to myself ... to soak up that warm atmosphere,” he said.
Born in Dakar to a Senegalese father and a French mother, Gueye is a dual Senegalese and French national who now lives between Paris and Dakar.
He is widely recognized as a trailblazer of winter sports in Senegal, founding his country’s ski federation, which he still heads today.
However, when he arrived in Sarajevo he was just 23 — and the sole athlete representing Senegal, taking on the responsibility of “coach, secretary, treasurer, racer.”
He still vividly remembers the opening ceremony in front of 60,000 spectators.
Marching alone under his country’s flag, he found himself wedged between the large US and Soviet delegations at the height of the Cold War.
“The two ice hockey teams had things to say to each other that weren’t always friendly,” Gueye joked.
However, for those watching, his presence was a powerful symbol, said Aleksandra Fracassa Kostic, the Serbian director of the film Sarajevo Downhill (Sarajevski Spust).
“Standing there all by himself between them, he was like a messenger of peace,” she said.
Eight years later, Bosnia plunged into a brutal war.
Sarajevo endured a siege lasting nearly four years, which left much of the city in ruins and more than 11,000 people dead.
“When we turned on our TVs and saw the war here, it was a disaster,” Gueye said.
“From one of the most beautiful expressions of humanity ... to absolute horror,” he added.
However, three decades after the war, Gueye said the city’s residents were “incredible” for keeping the values he remembered from the Games.
“They could have come away with nothing but a message of hatred. That’s not the case,” said the Olympian, who also competed at the 1992 and 1994 Games.
Bosnian actor and film producer Adnan Haskovic said his team chose to focus on Gueye’s story as one of triumph over “prejudice” at the time.
“What mattered wasn’t an Olympic victory; his participation itself was the triumph of the human spirit,” Haskovic said.
On Feb. 16, 1984, he finished 51st in the downhill on the Bjelasnica course.
The race was won by Bill Johnson, securing the first Olympic gold medal in alpine skiing for the US, but it was a victory for Gueye, too.
“I didn’t finish last — I think I beat four or five competitors,” he said.
After Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner split last year’s Grand Slams, the two superstars were expected to continue their see-saw rivalry this year. That has not happened. Instead, injuries have foreclosed the possibility of a clash between the two champions in three of the four Grand Slams, with the Spaniard missing the French Open and Wimbledon due to a wrist injury and the Italian absent from New York because of a knee injury. Alcaraz and Sinner are far from alone among top players missing big tournaments this year due to injury, a trend that has been a source of growing
TIGHT TIES: Throwing the opening pitch for the Nats game is the latest in a series of efforts by the Taiwanese-American astronaut to celebrate Taiwan and the US Taiwan-born astronaut Kjell Lindgren threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Washington Nationals’ Taiwan Heritage Day at Nationals Park on Saturday before the game against the Miami Marlins. Speaking before the Nationals’ second Taiwanese Heritage Day, Lindgren said throwing the first pitch was “right up there in terms of anxiety-provoking” with some of his past accomplishments, including two rocket launches, two atmospheric reentries and two spacewalks. “But I’m really excited to be a part of this celebration of Taiwan heritage,” he said, adding that it was “an opportunity to really celebrate the relationship, the partnership, the history between the United States and
England forward Ollie Watkins has left Aston Villa to join Al Hilal, his new Saudi club announced on Sunday. The deal is worth a reported ￡50 million (US$67.7 million) and follows Villa’s signing of Senegal eseforward Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea. Al Hilal said the 30-year-old Watkins had signed a three-year deal and would be in line to play in their league match against Al Ahli today. He joins a squad including former Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema and Crysencio Summerville, who signed from West Ham United earlier in the transfer window. Watkins has scored seven goals in 24 appearances for England. Villa coach Unai Emery
Park So-yeon is set to become the first woman to represent South Korea’s national team in e-sports and wants to pave the way for more in the male-dominated world of competitive gaming. South Korea is an e-sports powerhouse and Park has been chosen to compete in survival horror game Identity V at the Asian Games in Nagoya and the wider Aichi area from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4. The 23-year-old Park, the only woman in South Korea’s team of 36 e-sports competitors heading to Japan, said she wanted to “go all out and have no regrets.” “As I am the first, I feel
RSS