Paris 2024 Olympics competition is not like a FIFA World Cup in Port-au-Prince 

PORT-AU-PRINCE — While the French provided good inspiration and excitement during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris on July 26 and beyond, in Port-au-Prince, despite the presence of seven Haitian athletes in these games, it was dead calm. The Haitians appeared rather indifferent. In the places where matches are broadcasted, there have  been no crowd as it is usually the case during FIFA World Cup competition. During the opening ceremony, which featured a parade on the Seine River and was beautifully closed by international artist Céline Dion, most people paid little to no attention.

“I am closely following two sporting disciplines in the Paris games: football [soccer] and basketball with the American selection,” said Kendy Louis, a young basketball player, before adding that he does not have much time. “I would make the effort,” he continued, “if I knew that we had an athlete who was going to stand out in these games.”

It’s becoming customary in Haiti. People are not interested much in the Olympics. From the launch to the events, the games do not attract people’s enthusiasm. Even sporting events involving Haitian athletes have not been well attended. 

Many sports fans told The Haitian Times that they had not much interest  mainly because Haiti is not present in theirfavorite sports and has little chance of  winning a medal.They also feel no excitement for so many different sporting events as opposed to a soccer or basketball competition. 

The Olympic Games are only talked about mostly on social networks and in the media. While social media pages of Port-au-Princians are filled with photos of Haiti’s representatives, some people are still wondering: who these athletes are, where they come from, and in what disciplines will they compete, etc. At the time of the opening ceremony, the streets were crowded with people, but paradoxically, the broadcast locations were rather deserted.

“I am not used to following the sporting disciplines in which Haiti will be represented, and since my childhood, I have never seen a Haitian win an Olympic medal,” explained Andy Jeannot, a big soccer fan.

As usual, it was soccer and basketball that attracted many more people. People are mostly interested in watching national teams of Argentina for soccer and the United States for basketball. “In discussions about these Olympics, we have only been hearing about these two selections despite many extraordinary athletes in other sports have been writing their names in capital letters on gold, silver and bronze,” a sport analyst said.

Haiti’s history in the Olympics

Officially, there are no records of Haitian participation in Olympic Games before 1924. For this first representation, the country won a bronze medal in Team Shooting.

But Haiti’s most notable participation was in 1928 with the jumper, Sylvio Cator. He is considered one of the greatest Haitian athletes of all time. He is the only one in 100 years of participation to have officially won a medal on behalf of Haiti, in an individual discipline, during the 1928 games in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands.

Before these games, Cator was the favorite in the long jump competition, as evidenced by a jump of 7.71 meters at the start of the season. A foot fault during the last jump deprived him of victory, so he had to settle for the silver medal with 7.58 meters, behind the American Ed Hamm.

This jumper even broke the long jump world record. On September 9, 1928, at the Olympic stadium in Colombes, Cator improved the world record for the discipline held by Hamm by 3 cm by achieving a jump of 7.937 meters. He was given a standing ovation by the crowd and congratulated by all the athletes present. His record stood for three years. In 1929, he jumped more than 8 meters during a meeting in Port-au-Prince, a result which was not approved by the decision-making bodies.

Ninety-six years later, Haitians are still chasing a third Olympic medal. The most talented athletes fail to stand out in the name of Haiti. For this fifteenth participation in the summer games, Haiti, once again, has very little chance of winning a medal. 

Four of the seven Haitian athletes representatives have already been eliminated in their disciplines. This is not encouraging from the perspective of pushing Haitians to take an interest in these games, whose ideal, as conceived by the Ancient Greeks, does not consist of winning but of giving the best of oneself and surpassing oneself.

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