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Sport 3rd Place

The Chad Olympic Team
Antonio López Díaz
Series description

This series follows the inspiring story of four girls from Chad who, in 2019, received scholarships from a Spanish foundation to move to Spain and pursue their dream of becoming professional gymnasts. The girls worked hard throughout their training, with the goal of representing Chad at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Although they did not qualify, their story has had a transformative impact on their home country, leading to the creation of Chad's first gymnastics federation, which already has five registered clubs. With sport acting as a catalyst for change, their story becomes a symbol of hope and resilience, showing how educational and sports opportunities can transform not only the future of individuals but entire communities.

Biography

Madrid-based photojournalist and documentarian specializing in human rights, the environment, and gender issues. His work has been recognized at festivals like Visa pour l'Image (2015, 2024) and awarded by the University of Zaragoza’s Development Chair (2022, 2023). Notable exhibitions include Nicosia Wounded City and La Copa Rosa. He collaborates with El País and explores topics like menstrual poverty and indigenous struggles. He combines teaching, and work with the Colpisa agency.

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The Ramon Grosso Foundation built a gymnasium at a school in Chad to motivate girls and improve their future prospects.
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Cecilia takes a break from bar training, the most demanding of all the disciplines they learned, and watches a colleague perform the exercises. The four Chadian girls came to live in Spain at the ages of 12 and 13, a few months before the start of the Covid 19 pandemic. They had never experienced a winter like the European one.
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After two months in Spain, the global Covid 19 pandemic was declared. During the pandemic, Astha's host family had to move to their grandparents' home. Each girl trained online in the living room of the house
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The African Championships held in May 2024 was the last chance for the girls to get a place at the Paris Olympic Games later in the year. Ahead of the championship event in Marrakech, the project manager, Sylvia, surprised the girls with new jerseys.
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One of the objectives set for the girls was to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and use them to promote the project. The last place for the Games would come from the African championship in Marrakech. The girls knew it was an almost impossible task, as they had only been doing gymnastics for a short time compared to their opponents.
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The girls didn’t qualify for the Paris Games, but all four gymnasts performed well in the championship – Cecilia came close to a medal in the floor exercise, finishing in fourth place. Days later they received the bad news that the place granted by Olympic invitation to a gymnast who meets the criteria of the Olympic spirit had gone to someone else. The result in the African championship reaffirms their conviction to continue working towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
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The girls returned to Chad after a three-year absence. In this time they had become celebrities in the African country. The Minister of Sports held a symbolic ceremony for them, where they were presented with the medals they had won in Spain.