Only a few days left and the year 2024 will release its final breath. The time is therefore right to make projections for 2025. It is this exercise that Jeannot Kouamé Kouadio, the president of the Ivorian Athletics Federation (FIA), willingly took part in. In this exclusive interview, the first person responsible for the first Olympic discipline discusses the major challenges and projects for 2025 as well as the preparation of Ivorian athletes without failing to comment on some current events.
What are the major challenges of the Ivorian Athletics Federation?
First we have three world championships in 2025. The first is the indoor world championships in March. The second will be in China. These are the World Relays also planned in China, in Guangzhou, on May 12 and 13, 2025. And the third is the 20th Worlds which will be held in September in Japan. There, we are going to bet a little on the relay and the world championship in Japan.
Why this strategy?
This is simply because the season is long. If you perform well in March, it will handicap you in September. So we will try to put a little more pressure on the relay world championship. The ladies are already qualified. Men are not yet. They will therefore fight to seek to qualify.
Do they have any real chances?
They are already well positioned in the world ranking. In March, they will start doing relay competitions to be able to have the minimums and be at the relay worlds.
With the most qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, athletics was highly anticipated. Unfortunately, you come back on a bad note. What do you plan for these competitions to restore your image and regain your place in the hearts of Ivorians?
The solution is quite simple. It is to win gold medals at the various world championships scheduled for 2025. We need to win gold medals and make the Ivorians vibrate in unison. This will be done because we know that Ivorians love athletics. All athletes are fully aware of this. 2025 will be a big year. We were preparing for 2025 while we were at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
What were you actually doing?
We were in negotiations behind the scenes to be able to position certain young athletes. Our objective was for them to leave universities to integrate very high-level structures with a view to efficient and qualitative preparation. I will cite Traoré Cheickna, who will be coached by Brandon Rizzo’s coach. I will also mention Koné Abdul Razack Ismaël. The Federation has just, thanks to the help of Marie-Josée Ta Lou, obtained a contract for him. He will be trained by John Smith, Marie-Josée Ta Lou’s trainer. He will therefore leave his base to be in California this season. The goal is the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, but we will go through the world championships in September. We will appreciate all the results of this work with this very talented athlete. He had already shown great things in Cameroon by running in 10 seconds. Unfortunately, he had problems with the track.
How are athletes currently preparing?
Currently, we are in recovery. This is general physical preparation. Maboundou is in Italy, she resumed training 3 weeks ago. Jessica Gbaï, for her part, is doing well, she has resumed training. Ta Lou has also resumed training. The same goes for Traoré Cheickna and the rest of the away contingent.
What about those in Ivory Coast?
We resumed almost a month ago. Things are going very well. As I said, it is from March that we will start to hear about our athletes. Otherwise, it’s okay.
Ta Lou announced this Monday that she was returning to the race and is aiming for Los Angeles 2028. That must be a joy?
It must be said that the potential and qualities of Marie-Josée Ta Lou for the high level are undisputed. We all witness the performances she puts on every year despite her age. As a technician, I am for performance. And if her body allows her to push her limits, we can only rejoice to see her present and pulling her sisters up.
During the last Ordinary General Assembly, the National Technical Directorate (DTN) revealed a list of pending athletes. Will we see them this season?
Absolutely. This season, there are certain athletes who will start with us. They will strengthen the national team. The Ivorians will discover them as was the case for Jessica Gbaï, Traoré Cheickna, Koné Ismaël. We have short sprints, long jumps, hurdles. In the men’s 4×400, we have a team that is average at the African level. We are waiting for this team to improve a little further to be able to have the 4×400 relay, without forgetting the individual events at the 400 hurdles level. Traoré Cheickna is also a 400 specialist. He ran in 46s, but he took a break from this event for several years. If he continued, he would be at 45 seconds. If he ran in 45 seconds, or even 44, that could help him more at the 200 meter level. This is what Letsile Tobogo, the Botswanan, did. He was practically one of the best 400 meters in the world. And in the 200 meters, we saw what this gave to the Olympic Games.
You were the chef de mission for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Last Thursday, there was a workshop reviewing the Paris 2024 Olympic Games organized by the Ministry of Sports and Living Environment. What conclusion can we draw from this workshop?
It must be said that by doing this workshop, it was to launch preparations for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, including the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. We were all happy because we were used to to wait two years to prepare and take stock of the previous edition. This time we started a little earlier. I think that the ministry, with the CNO-CIV, hand in hand, will have good games at the level of Dakar 2026, because the objective is to have a lot of qualified people and seek to get on the podium . And at the Los Angeles Olympic Games as well, it is to pass the two medal mark because the first time, in 2016, Ivory Coast came back with two medals. Our best performance is two medals and then one medal in two editions. We want to pass the two medal bar like in other countries. It was a very good workshop. We would like to take this opportunity again to say thank you to the Ministry in charge of Sports as well as to the CNO-CIV who initiated this workshop.
2024 ends wonderfully for you and Ivorian athletics with this distinction of Commander of Sports Merit. Isn’t it?
Yes, indeed! I am happy and very honored to see myself elevated to the rank of Commander in the Order of Sports Merit. It is a huge honor for me and Ivorian athletics. This distinction from the State of Côte d’Ivoire through the Ministry of Sports and Living Environment delights us enormously. I would like, on my own behalf and on behalf of the entire Ivorian athletics family, to express my infinite gratitude to the Head of State. My thoughts also go out to all Ivorian athletes.
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