She is only 14 years old and is experiencing her first Olympic Games. Lois Eliora Irishura is not the youngest athlete at the 2024 Olympics – she is the Chinese Zheng Haohao, almost 12 years old – but she is still the youngest of the African delegations in Paris. This Burundian will line up on August 3 in the 50 meters freestyle, alongside about twenty swimmers from the continent who have obtained an invitation via universality. Very impressed, she nevertheless hopes to leave without regrets. Interview.
2 min
With our special correspondent for the 2024 Olympic Games, Francois Mazet
How do you live among the buildings and the frenzy of the Paris 2024 Olympic village when you are a 14-year-old Burundian girl? It’s exceptional, but still, it’s a bit stressful too, because these are my first Olympic Games.explain Lois Eliora Irishura. I’m going to try not to stress too much, because it’s going to ruin me actually. So I’m enjoying, I’m enjoying everything. It’s surprising too, but still I could get a little lost, because it’s very very big “.
Lois Eliora Irishura is short, has very short hair and a twinkle in her eye. And, unlike some who discover a discipline by chance, she fell into the pool when she was little: ” I can say that I grew up in swimming. I learned to swim at 4 years old for fun. I started serious training at 7 years old. It’s in Bujumbura, in a public pool, so there are a lot of people, it’s a bit difficult, but we still try. »
” It’s already an achievement to come here to the Olympic Games at 14 years old. »
His uncle is his coach, but also the president of the Federation of Burundi swimming. For her 2024 Olympics, she dreams of a great individual performance: going under 29 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle.
A 9th grade student, she would later like to obtain a scholarship in Canada. It’s already an achievement to come here to the Olympic Games at 14 years old.she measures. There are many people who are superior, who are very tall. I feel a little small and discouraged. But, still, I try not to give up. “.
If she ever gets lost in the Olympic Village, Lois Eliora Irishura hopes to run into Léon Marchand and overcome her shyness to ask the French swimming star for a photo.
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