Having left for the other side of the Atlantic to be able to live their dreams as fencers in the United States, the two Tunisian cousins Farès and Ahmed Ferjani are having a unique experience in the very selective American university sporting environment. Based in New York, on the campus of Saint John’s University, the Tunis sabers are taking full advantage of their experience, and are accumulating good results in the NCAA, with the Paris Olympic Games in their sights.
“ Travel shapes the young » , as Montaigne said so well, and the example of the two Tunisian cousins Farès and Ahmed Ferjani perfectly confirms the philosopher’s famous quote. The great journey of the two fencers begins at Tunis. Farès (26 years old) and Ahmed Ferjani (23 years old) grew up in the capital, where fencing is in the family DNA.
“ It is THE sport practiced by almost the whole family, smiled Fares. There is a family passion for this sport! We wanted to follow the example of the elders, and we quickly fell into it when we were little “. Both shine in saber in the national youth categories, but aim higher. They have won African youth, individual and team titles. Farès competed in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, and the young Ahmed is inspired by the journey of the elder, who finds himself at a crossroads in 2017.
They stick together
Farès wishes to study and put himself in the best possible context to exploit his potential as a swordsman, and receives scholarship offers from the United States. At 18, he decided to join New York and college in St. John’s. The oldest of the duo starts his American dream from the Big Apple, far from his homeland, and experiences a difficult start to his adventure.
“ When I arrived, I didn’t speak a word of English », smiles Farès. I chose St. John’s because I wanted to train under the Ukrainian legend, one of the best coaches in history, Yuri Gelman. But it was very hard for me, especially during the first year, I had to adapt to a different context and climate. I struggled, but it helped me grow “.
Arriving in 2021, Ahmed took advantage of the presence of Farès to acclimatize more quickly to the American context, on the advice of his elder, who took him under his wing as soon as he arrived on campus. “ I could go to Paris, because I had studied at the Paris-Dauphine campus in Tunis, but Farès and Yuri convinced me to come here », he smiles. “ There were some moments of doubt, as everyone experiences, but I think that the experience of Farès was greatly beneficial to me in adapting more quickly to my new life », he adds.
The two young sabers support each other and stick together, and progress like never before in an ultra-structured American university context, where athletes train like professionals. “ Here, there is everything! An incredible level, top-level infrastructure, and physiotherapists and support that put you in the best position to exploit your potentialunderlines Ahmed, some campuses, like Notre Dame and Harvard for example, have better infrastructures than those seen in the best training centers in Europe “.
Objective Paris 2024, and try to follow in the footsteps of Inès Boubakri
From New York to Philadelphia, via Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles, the Ferjani duo shines and accumulates miles to live their passion, and take full advantage of the opportunity to be student athletes (editor’s note: student-athlete) despite the intense life imposed on them.
“ It’s true that our life is intense, between classes, travel for tournaments and we have a very busy schedule all year round, admits Ahmed, we hardly have any time for ourselves, we are always focused on working. We train twice a day, we have pressure that comes naturally from the university setting with our status as an athlete, therefore “privileged“because we didn’t pay for our studies (editor’s note: a year at St. John’s costs around…$32,000). You have to do the work, and be square, all the time “.
The two Tunisians also have an additional element in their athletic life, with tournaments abroad, qualifications for the African and world championships, but also, and above all, for the next Paris Olympic Games. “ I have already participated in two Olympic Games, in 2016 (25th in the saber tournament) and 2020 (20th), and it sure is something very, very special, confirms Farès. I know that everyone is talking about this, and that we dream of participating in it, even more so because it won’t be far from home, but we still have a long way to get there, and above all, we must stay focus on our progress above all “.
A place for two!
The two Tunisians performed well at the last world championships in Algiers, Farès finished sixth in his category, and Ahmed, 11th, but the current situation for aiming for a place for Paris presents a big dilemma: with only a ticket for the rest of the continent for the sabre, only one of the two Ferjani will be able to go to France to try to make history. The decision will be made on a total of points accumulated in the tournaments that the two Africans will play in the coming months.
“ It is true that it is a special situation, because Egypt has already secured three tickets and the rest of the continent will only have onespecifies Farès, but this does not create any tension among us, because we support each other, family above all! Whether it’s him or me, I will be happy, and I know that whatever happens, we will be each other’s first supporter, ready to motivate and advise each other to try to win gold, which would be the dream “.
With Tunisia at heart, the Ferjani want to make the people proud, like Ayoub Hafnaoui, also based in the United States, but above all try to follow in the footsteps ofInès Boubakrifirst Tunisian woman in history to win an Olympic medal in fencing, bronze, at the Rio 2016 Games. It is sure that she is an inspiration, and that she has made history, Ahmed explains, but we also see beyond Paris because we are still young. We are aiming for Paris, but we are also looking ahead to the Los Angeles Games in 2026, where we will be, if the work continues like this, at the maximum of our potential. “.