Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Kempinski Resort Seychelles hosts lunch for Olympians |22 August 2021

Kempinski Resort Seychelles yesterday hosted a lunch for Seychellois Olympians who took part in the re-scheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games held from July 23 to August 8, 2021.

Of the five athletes who represented Seychelles in Tokyo, only male judoka Nantenaina Finesse and track and field athlete Ned Azemia were present for the lunch and were welcomed by Kempinski Resort Seychelles’ general manager Hany Abdelmoneim and staff upon arrival. Also present for the lunch were Youth, Sports and Family Minister Marie-Céline Zialor, chief executive of the National Sports Council Jean Larue, Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Socga) president Antonio Gopal, Socga secretary general Alain Alcindor, doctor Martin Rodriquez Barrios and athletics coach Lynda Jeanne.

Speaking to the gathering, Mr Abdelmoneim said their presence at the lunch represents a celebration of victory to the young and strong athletes for reaching their maximum at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

“I am very honoured and thrilled, like as Kempinski Resort Seychelles, to be participants with you in this land of sport, happiness and positivity, the paradise of Seychelles. Well done for representing Seychelles at the Olympic. This is a beautiful beginning and we will see how we will work together in the future to make sure that sports, happiness, positivity, immunity and style of life are better day after day. We are behind you, well done,” said Mr Abdelmoneim.

Minister Zialor thanked Kempinski Resort Seychelles, through Mr Abdelmoneim, to partner with the ministry to support Seychellois athletes and the different sports ventures and strategies in place.

“On behalf of government, we welcome these initiatives and we look forward to a long and fruitful relationship in pushing sports and push young people as far as they can go. We look forward to the next couple of years for this venture,” Minister Zialor said.

Swimmers Felicity Passon, Simon Bachmann who are overseas, and Laser sailor Rodney Govinden (work commitment) were not present.

On behalf of the Seychelles team, track athlete Azemia thanked Mr Abdelmoneim personally and Kempinski Resort Seychelles for hosting the lunch in recognition of their participation in the Games and their hard work.

“The past four years of hard work haven’t been easy. They were cut short last year because of the pandemic and it was very difficult for us to adapt. Thank you for recognising our hard work and for recognising us as athletes and this will motivate us to move further forward,” said Azemia who also thanked Socga for the Olympic Solidarity programme run by the International Olympic Committee that paved the way from one athlete to qualify for the Games and others to receive invitations.

Before settling down to enjoy the special lunch, Socga president Antonio Gopal presented tokens of appreciation for support provided to Team Seychelles at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to Minister Zialor on behalf of the ministry and Seychelles government, Mr Abdelmoneim on behalf of Kempinski Resort Seychelles, and Mr Larue on behalf of NSC.

The athletes and officials present were also presented with certificates of participation. Minister Zialor presented track athlete Azemia and judoka Finesse with theirs, while Mr Gopal, Mr Alcindor, doctor Martin Rodriquez Barrios and coach Linda Jeanne received theirs from Mr Larue.

Male swimmer Bachmann lowered his Seychelles’ 200m butterfly record with a performance of 2 minutes 03.54 seconds (2:03.54), but his time was not good enough for him to progress to the semifinals.

Bachmann, who received an invitation from the Fédération Internationale de Natation (Fina) to compete in Tokyo, swam in lane number seven and was placed sixth out of six swimmers in heat number one won by Ayman Kelzi of Syria in 1:59.57 in the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. He was also ranked 38th out of as many qualifiers in this event. He got his previous Seychelles record of 2:04.00 in April 2019 in Rennes, France.

Third out of three swimmers in heat number one, Sportswoman of the Year Felicity Passon was ranked 26th overall out of 27 with a time of 2 minutes 16.18 seconds (2:16.18) in the women’s 200m backstroke. Passon’s time was almost three seconds slower than her Seychelles record of 2:13.94 achieved on Friday February 21, 2020 in the heats of the Durban Grand Prix inside the King’s Park Swimming Pool. The heats served as an Olympic Games qualifying event and Passon achieved the Olympic selection time (OST or B qualifying time) with her performance of 2:13.94.

The Olympic selection time for the women’s 200m backstroke was 2:14.30 while the Olympic qualifying time was 2:10.39.

Although Passon met the B qualifying time, she had to wait until June to see if she would make it to Tokyo provided the quota of 878 athletes was not met. She finally received an invitation, but unlike other invitees who only swim one event, she was given the opportunity to take part in two ‒ 100m backstroke and 200m backstroke.

Passon also failed to qualify for the semifinals of the women’s 100m backstroke. Swimming in lane two of heat number two, she clocked 1:04.66 to take seventh position out of eight swimmers. Overall, Passon, who was competing in her maiden Olympics, was ranked 38th out of 41 swimmers, while another two did not start.

Judoka Finesse’s journey in his maiden involvement in the Olympics lasted just 57 seconds on the mat inside the Nippon Budokan. The Praslinois lost by ippon (Kuzure-kami-shiho-gatame) after only 57 seconds in the four-minute fight against two-time Grand Slam gold medallist Marcus Nyman of Sweden in the round of 32 of the -90kg category. Kuzure-kami-shiho-gatame is one of the seven mat holds in judo.

Finesse competed at the Olympics after receiving an invitation.

Track athlete Ned Azemia performed well below his usual standards, clocking 51.67 seconds in the 400m hurdles. Running in lane number three next to Jamaican Jaheel Hyde inside the Olympic Stadium, Azemia was last in eight athletes in heat number two which proved to be the second fastest of the five heats. Azemia’s time of 51.57 seconds placed him 36th and last overall.

This was Azemia’s second appearance at the Olympics after making his debut in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016 when he clocked 50.74 seconds in the same event on August 15, 2016 for a then Seychelles record. He dipped below the 50-second barrier, bringing the new Seychelles record to 49.82 seconds and that was during the NJCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the BG Products Veterans Sports Complex El Dorado, Kansas, USA in May 2018.

As for Laser sailor Rodney Govinden, he finished in 33rd position out of 35 sailors in the men’s one person dinghy class in the Enoshima Yacht Harbour.

Govinden registered his best finish ‒ 28th place ‒ in race number nine. He finished with 312 points (net 278) after his worst finish ‒ 34th position in race number four ‒ was discarded.

Govinden was the only Seychellois athlete to earn qualification for the biggest multi-sports event after clinching the Laser gold medal at the 2019 African Championship RSX and Laser, in Algiers, Algeria.

This was the second time in succession he had qualified for the Olympics. He made his first appearance in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016 and finished 45th overall.

The Tokyo Olympics were to take place from July 24 to August 9, 2020 but were delayed for a year because of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

The accompanying photographs show some highlights of the ceremony.

Patrick Joubert

Photos by Louis Toussaint