He has no face, no silhouette, no name. However, athletes know how to recognize this invisible, anonymous and terribly malicious adversary. Whatever their discipline, level and notoriety, athletes have become the target of mockery, insults, even death threats, which spread freely on the Internet. This gratuitous hatred is displayed for all to see in comments on online press articles, YouTube posts and more particularly on the social networks X, Instagram, Facebook or TikTok. With the magnifying glass of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris (from July 26 to September 8), the French authorities and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) fear that this scourge will intensify.
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“The violence found there is extremely nauseating. It shows the worst of human beings, cowardly and rotten”, says Michaël Jeremiasz, chef de mission for the Paralympic Games. The examples are countless. Recently, French judoka Romane Dicko, 24, double Olympic medalist in Tokyo in 2021 (mixed team gold, bronze in +78 kg), was targeted for having shared a few steps with a classical dancer in a video. “Fat vs elegance, is this the fight of the century”, “Who is this big African? “, can we still read about X. The 2022 world champion has announced her intention to file a complaint “to lead by example” by publicly denouncing these comments “ grossophobic » And “racist”.
Less than three months before the start of the Games, athletes affected by hostile messages – that The world contacted –, are reluctant to discuss this danger in full preparation. “For most of them, it’s still a taboo subject like depression.”, notes Julian Jappert, director of the Sport and Citizenship think tank. However, the footballer Kenza Dali, the sprinter Christophe Lemaitre and the pole vaulter Margot Chevrier agreed to tell these ” abuse “ with a disconcerting detachment.
“Go cook”
That afternoon, in Clairefontaine (Yvelines), under a gray sky, a smile lit up the face of Kenza Dali, 32 years old. The midfielder of the France team (65 caps) has recovered from a serious knee injury and another, more intimate one. On August 12, 2023, in Brisbane (Australia), the Blues narrowly failed against the local selection in the quarter-finals of the World Cup (0-0.7-6 tab). Kenza Dali has just missed his shot during a stifling penalty shootout and considers himself responsible for the elimination of the Tricolores. Like others.
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