Kokou Dodji Fanny, Togo’s representative at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, was eliminated in the first round of the table tennis tournament on July 24. But the day after the opening ceremony, the 34-year-old table tennis player who lives in Ney York just wants to remember the positive of his experience at the Olympics.
From our special correspondent in Tokyo,
“It was the best meeting of my life.” Kokou Dodji Fanny shows a smile of satisfaction despite his defeat in the first round of the table tennis tournament at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021. The Togolese lost 4 sets to 0 (5-11, 6-11, 3-11, 11-13) against Croatian Andrej Gacina, July 24th. And he would still have extended the pleasure a bit, with a fifth round. “I had this last set,” he slips. But I let it slide through my fingers ”.
From baseball to table tennis
Regardless, Kokou Dodji Fanny spent the last few days living in Japan, a country he had never visited. The day before, he paraded during the inauguration of the 2021. Olympics. “It’s great for all athletes,” he likes. I have no words to explain it “. He continues: “It is a big dream that has come true. I have always trained with the Olympics in mind, but I tell myself that my chances of going were low. “
Kokou Dodji Fanny, however, wanted to believe it, because table tennis allowed him to grow. “When you lose at ping, you can only blame yourself, you can not blame anyone else,” he says. I actually started with baseball. I played for the national team for cadets. Baseball is a team sport. When you make a mistake, you can blame other people, not as a ping ”.
Coach in New York
The highlight of the paradox is that it is not his passion for baseball but table tennis that has enabled Kokou Dodji Fanny to live in the United States for six years. “I’m a full time coach in New York, with one of the biggest clubs in North America, Westchester,” he explains. Club owner Will Short invited me to a tournament. Then he told me that they liked me there and that I could stay if I wanted ”. What he did, because “with the ping you can make some money in the United States”.
Nothing to do with the situation of his sport in Togo. “If I came to this level, it’s because I live in the United States,” he says. This is one of the reasons why I manage to travel for some competitions. This made it possible for me to have this place for the Olympics ”.
From Tokyo to Paris?
The Olympians take the opportunity to appeal to the Togolese leaders. “That they put in some money,” he asks. I’m not against football, but if they could put a tenth of football’s resources into ping … ”
Meanwhile, Kokou Dodji Fanny wants to continue living and training in the United States, with the 2024 Olympics in Paris as her goal. “I want to continue and do the Olympics again. After what I have been through, I definitely want to come back, he smiles.
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