the athlete Dimitri Pavadé – Libération comes out

2024-09-07 16:51:00

The Paralympic champion, silver medalist in the long jump in Tokyo, revealed his homosexuality on Instagram this Saturday, September 7, in a long inspirational message.

This is perhaps one of the most dizzying leaps I’ve had to make. On Saturday 7 September Dimitri Pavadé, a French athlete specializing in the long jump, revealed his homosexuality. “Yes, I am short, mixed race, one-legged and, to put it another way, gay!” Riunions wrote on Instagram, fourth in his T64 category at the Paris Games. From now on the Paralympic champion believes he has a «second battle to fight Neighbor [sa] LGBTQIA+ community”.

In his publication, mixing touches of humor and inspiring messages, the athlete says he has been waiting for this moment “impatiently”. “Here I am today ready once again to face, overcome and move forward without taking into account what others may say or think about me”writes. Before addressing homophobic discourse in passing: “The person I am and like others has never had to make a choice, so stop with your pitiful speeches and your unreasoning judgments because you will never change the world.”

In the world of high-level sport the gesture is still rare. So the silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics takes the opportunity to launch an appeal “to the people who are still in hiding or to these high-level athletes who do not dare to live this freedom openly and freely [leur] is due by law”. “Disability is not to be hidden or ashamed of, the same goes for your sexual orientation, so accept yourself as you are and remember that you are not alone” notes the thirty-year-old.

“Thank you for being who you are”

To conclude his publication, Dimitri Pavadé remembers him “children and adults still commit suicide or are killed today”. The SOS homophobia association estimated for example, LGBT youth are 2 to 7 times more likely to make one or more suicide attempts in their lifetime. “Don’t forget that the people around you may be affected one day” the athlete finishes.

Dimitri Pavadé’s words were widely circulated on social networks. And greeted. Like the judoka Clarisse Agbegnenou who congratulated him on his oratory skills: “Never change!!!! Thank you for being who you are.”. Or the athlete’s teammate, Arnaud Assoumani, Paralympic long jump champion in Beijing (T46), who wrote to him in the comments: “You were already an inspiration, today you become an icon and a role model for millions of other people.”