Sedia Sanogo, 32, is captain of the Ivorian women’s boxing team. She was born and raised in France. But she chose to defend the colors of the country of her ancestors, during the Paris Olympics in 2024. With the aim of developing women’s boxing in Côte d’Ivoire.
In the ring, Sédia Sanogo, already four times champion of France, unfolds gracefully. All in muscle ! She knocks. She knocks. His gaze is fixed. She doesn’t give up. She has the rage of winners… She who was not born and who has never lived in Côte d’Ivoire, has chosen to represent the country of her ancestors for the next Olympic Games. A country where women’s English boxing is non-existent: ” I felt that boxing was dead in Ivory Coast, loose Sédia Sanogowe have a bit of an old-fashioned state of mind, namely that women are not allowed to practice this type of sport, which is still considered a preserve for men. »
Boxing is a family affair
Sédia Sanogoa started very early, at the age of 13, at the club of Garges-les-Gonesse in the northern suburbs of Paris. Her father and sister practiced this sport, but it was with her brother, also a boxer, that she took her first steps. Promising debut in the France team where she became French junior champion. The club then offered him to integrate a sports and studies sector, but for his parents, it would be a definite no. His trainer “ the loose in turn ». He left France to continue his studies in England: “The coach,” she says, “is like a second father, a big brother, a confidant, a best friend. In the ring, we are never alone »… She gives up everything. And draws a line under her career, until the day when twelve years later, by the greatest chance, she comes across her coach in the middle of the street. And it will be a new beginning.
Sédia Sanogo likes a challenge
Today, Sédia Sanogo is a specialized educator. She accompanies young people followed by social assistance for children. But she is forced to work to pay for her physical preparation and her internships abroad: “ The champion of my category is Turkish, so regularly, I go to Istanbul to follow her fights. Me, I’m alone, I don’t have any financial support whereas utop-level athlete must be able to train twice a day. She breathes boxing, she eats boxing, she wakes up and she sleeps “boxing”. Despite these difficulties, Sédia Sanogo has the will to win, she is determined.
Captain of the Ivorian team, his strength is his mind
She’s already in another fight. She has only one idea in mind: to offer victory and a medal to Côte d’Ivoire, which has never had one.
The boxers who are members of the Ivorian national team can be counted on the fingers of one hand. They are five. “ I have to motivate the troops and I’m the only one to instil this team spirit even in the men…. But it’s not easy, because I live in France while the rest of the team is in Ivory Coast.
And fighting under the colors of Côte d’Ivoire is also a personal choice, because it was one of the last wishes of my grandmother who wanted to see me fight on her land. From where she is, she looks at me, she said proudlythinking that her little girl has returned to her roots. »
“The strong woman of Africa”
This high-level athlete therefore created LFA: the strong woman of Africa; an association to develop combat sport in Côte d’Ivoire. “For me, sport is a tool. I want to speak to women, to those who have lost self-confidence, to those who are victims of domestic violence… You know, to get into a ring, you have to have self-confidence. This is a first step, and I want to support these women in their reconstruction. »
Rachid Labdouni, her trainer, supports her in her choices
“She is a complete athlete who has enormous talent and incredible abilities, she could have claimed to join the France team, but she made the choice to fight for her country, Côte d’Ivoire and I support her. », Explains his trainer Rachid Labdouni.
To seek this qualification for the Olympic Games… Sédia Sanogo is ready to make sacrifices… It’s difficult, but she doesn’t give up. His next fight is scheduled for May in Nigeria.
With the blows, Sédia’s long braids came loose… The boxer, her fists trapped in the gloves, couldn’t redo her bun… So her coach, with a broad smile, restyled her. She catches her breath. She gives everything.