Teamwork across continents as Guinean wrestler fulfills Olympic dream
Guinean wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara holds past credentials and medals at her house in Conakry, Guinea, Monday July 19, 2021. A West African wrestler's dream of competing in the Olympics has come down to a plane ticket. Fatoumata Yarie Camara is the only Guinean athlete to qualify for these Games. She was ready for Tokyo, but confusion over travel reigned for weeks. The 25-year-old and her family can't afford it. Guinean officials promised a ticket, but at the last minute announced a withdrawal from the Olympics over COVID-19 concerns. Under international pressure, Guinea reversed its decision. (AP Photo/Youssouf Bah)
By Gerald Imray, Trisha Thomas, Boubacar Diallo, Youssouf Bah, Alessandra Tarantino, Ricardo DeLuca, Fulvio Paolocci, Andy Drake, Carley Petesch, Jerome Delay, Yesica Fisch, Natalie Castañeda and Janelle Cogan
The multinational, multiformat team of Gerald Imray, Trisha Thomas, Boubacar Diallo, Youssouf Bah, Alessandra Tarantino, Ricardo DeLuca, Fulvio Paolocci, Andy Drake, Carley Petesch, Jerome Delay, Yesica Fisch, Natalie Castañeda and Janelle Cogan collaborated across departments and continents to produce the compelling and exclusive story of one young African woman’s dream to compete in the Olympics.
The AP team had spent weeks following Guinean wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara, the only athlete from Guinea to qualify for the Olympics. Camara received only $500 from the government for training but she managed to find a way to train in Rome, where an AP team got behind-the-scenes access while she worked out, got vaccinated, ate pizza and toured the city.
Guinean wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara is welcomed by family members as she arrives at her home in Conakry, Guinea, July 19, 2021. – AP Photo / Youssouf Bah
Wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara, the only Guinean to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Games, walks with her mother near her home in Conakry, Guinea, July 19, 2021. – AP Photo / Youssouf Bah
Guinean wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara combs her hair at her home in Conakry, Guinea, July 21, 2021. – AP Photo / Youssouf Bah
Guinean wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara, right, gets ready to go to pray at the mosque in Conakry, Guinea, July 20, 2021. – AP Photo / Youssouf Bah
Guinean wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara prays at the mosque in Conakry, Guinea, July 20, 2021. – AP Photo / Youssouf Bah
Guinean wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara, right, waits at her home in Conakry, Guinea, July 21, 2021, wondering whether or not she will be able to attend the Tokyo Olympics. Her dream of competing in the Olympics almost fell through when Guinea officials announced a withdrawal from the Games. Under international pressure, Guinea reversed its decision and Camara represented her country in Tokyo. – AP Photo / Youssouf Bah
Guinean freestyle wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara walks in Rome, Italy, where she was training for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, July 3, 2021. – AP Photo / Riccardo De Luca
Guinean freestyle wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara, foreground, waits to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the Santo Spirito hospital in Rome, July 3, 2021. – AP Photo / Riccardo De Luca
Guinean wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara receives the COVID-19 vaccine at the Santo Spirito hospital in Rome, July 3, 2021. – AP Photo / Riccardo De Luca
Guinean wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara warms up during an afternoon training session in Ostia, near Rome, July 5, 2021. With Guinea’s government providing just $500 for training, coach Vincent Aka, a former Olympian himself, managed to secure money for a two-week June training camp in Italy. – AP Photo / Alessandra Tarantino
Guinean wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara runs at the end of her morning training session at the Ostia Olympic training center near Rome, July 5, 2021. Camara was the only Guinean athlete to qualify for the Tokyo Games. – AP Photo / Alessandra Tarantino
Guinean wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara, left, competes with Italian athlete Morena De Vita during a morning training session at the Ostia Olympic training center near Rome, July 5, 2021. – AP Photo / Alessandra Tarantino
Guinean wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara poses for a portrait at the end of her morning training session at the Ostia Olympic training center near Rome, July 5, 2021. – AP Photo / Alessandra Tarantino
Guinean freestyle wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara arrives at Narita International Airport in Narita, Japan, in a July 25, 2021 image from video. Guinea reversed an earlier decision to pull out of the Olympics and sent Camara to the Tokyo Games. – AP IMAGE FROM VIDEO / Alessandro Libri
Guinea’s Fatoumata Yarie Camara, right, and Japan’s Risako Kawai compete during the women’s 57kg freestyle wrestling match at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Chiba, Japan, Aug. 4, 2021. Camara was the only Guinean athlete to qualify for the Tokyo Games. – AP Photo / Aaron Favila
Guinea’s Fatoumata Yarie Camara, left, and Japan’s Risako Kawai compete during the women’s 57kg freestyle wrestling match at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Chiba, Japan, Aug. 4, 2021. – AP Photo / Aaron Favila
When Camara returned to Guinea, AP spent time with her and her family in one of the capital’s poorest neighborhoods and learned about the sacrifices she and her family had made so she could be an Olympian. But days before the opening ceremony, Guinea withdrew from the Olympics and then — after pressure from the IOC and media coverage from the AP and others — changed its mind.
AP was with her through every development, including her arrival, finally, in Tokyo — and this week as she competed on the Olympic stage. The coordinated effort resulted in a story that scored heavily with readers and viewers. https://aplink.news/se3 https://aplink.video/3ae
