As he was swimming along the Seine in Paris during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, a word came to Haitian swimmer Alexandre Grand’Pierre’s mind.
“Iconic”.
For the seven athletes representing Haiti, competing in the Paris Games has always been about more than just winning a gold medal. For athletes like Grand’Pierre, the third of his siblings to represent Haiti at the Olympics, it’s about sending a message of hope to a nation plagued by gang violence and political turmoil.
“It’s about showing that we are still capable of being on the international stage and giving a positive image despite all the unrest and instability that is going on, to give a glimmer of hope to the younger generations, especially the young athletes, by showing them that they too can participate in the Olympic Games,” Grand’Pierre, 21, told The Associated Press.
“Representing the country has always been bigger than me,” he added.
A symbol of pride for many Haitians, the athletes hope to change the image of the Caribbean country, long portrayed as a victim. It is also partly about taking back their history from France, the former colonizer that ruined Haiti for more than a century.
But the road to France was not easy.
Haiti is at an inflection point. After the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, a series of toxic gangs took control of much of the country. Daily life in the capital, Port-au-Prince, has ground to a halt, as has sports.
The Haitian Olympic team was formed by sheer force of will, said Fritz-Gérald Fong, head of the Haitian Olympic delegation.
As in much of Port-au-Prince, gangs have taken over the area around Olympic training facilities. Lower-level athletes have been killed across the country, Fong said. Haiti’s national Olympic committee said it has lost 80 percent of the coaches it trained because of ongoing emigration.
“This is a message to the Haitian people, to the nation and to the world. Giving up was not an option,” Fong said. “People have no hope. For months, they have been waving the flag and saying, ‘Let’s go to Haiti.’ We have given these people hope.”
Due to the government collapse, the team had no money to fund the athletes until the Games. Just before the Games, the Haitian government finally released $74,600, a fraction of their $405,000 budget.
As if that were not enough, earlier this year the country was again besieged by gangs. Flights were blocked out of Haiti, preventing travel to Olympic qualifying events, Fong said.
So, like other national Olympic committees in crisis, such as the Palestinian and Ukrainian teams, Haiti has relied entirely on athletes living abroad, like Grand’Pierre.
Born in Canada and training in the United States, Grand’Pierre grew up speaking Haitian Creole and eating Haitian food as his parents worked to preserve their culture, visiting before Haiti began to spiral.
“Growing up in the United States, it’s very easy to lose that aspect of yourself. But they made sure that we grew up and stayed connected,” he explains. Today, it’s classic Haitian Creole music that rings in Grand’Pierre’s ears before he jumps into the pool.
He is joined in Paris by six other athletes competing in athletics, gymnastics, judo, boxing and swimming. Although none medalled, Christopher Borzor, 25, was among those who reached the second round of the men’s 100 metres sprint.
“Financially, we don’t have a lot of money to compete, travel and stay in hotels. Most of the money came out of my pocket, I flew to try to compete for Haiti,” said Borzor, who left Haiti when he was 6, “but I told myself that one day I would get here.”
For some, Haiti’s presence in France is a political point.
A former French colony, Haiti was the first to gain independence through a slave revolt in 1804. France demanded that Haiti repay the slavers’ lost profits, which resulted in a $21 billion payment, according to New York Times calculations, which proved financially disastrous. A Parisian bank, Crédit Industriel et Commercial, gobbled up millions of dollars in Haitian money while helping to finance the Eiffel Tower.
Which is why, for Haitian-Italian designer Stella Jean, who created the team’s vibrant ceremonial uniforms, the athletes’ entrance into the Games was so meaningful – floating on the Seine in the shadow of that very tower.
It lasted just nine seconds, Stella Jean recalled the next morning, during which time Haiti captured the world’s attention as television cameras panned to her boat.
“But in those nine seconds, I think Haiti made history, and more than that, it turned the tides of history,” Jean said. These “young people marched under the Eiffel Tower – the same Eiffel Tower that Haiti helped pay for.”
When Jean got the call to design Haiti’s uniforms, she knew the job had little to do with fashion, and everything to do with history and identity. The goal wasn’t to be “pretty,” but to tell a story, with pants and skirts adorned with Haitian artist Philippe Dodard’s designs, bold prints reminiscent of those seen in the Caribbean nation.
“It was a kind of counter-colonization,” Jean explains. “But we did it with joy.
For others, like Marjorie Chouloute, mother of Mayah Chouloute, a 14-year-old swimmer, it is more about “changing the narrative” to look to the future.
“On French television, during the opening ceremony, all they could say when our boat passed by was how oppressed we are. … That’s not wrong,” she said. “But Haiti is not just about its problems.
In recent months, Haiti has chosen a new prime minister and welcomed a United Nations-backed mission to combat gangs. As the country takes small steps toward stability, the Olympic team has instilled a sense of pride in many Haitians, inside and outside the country. Athletes said the messages from family groups were lively, and television and radio talked about the Olympic athletes.
Back in Port-au-Prince, Marc André, 24, is among those cheering them on, despite the time difference and power outages. The team, he says, has given him hope.
“Haiti has a lot of talented young people, but we don’t have the opportunity to do it … because of the lack of resources,” he said. Still, he added, “I would like them to live in Haiti, to train in Haiti. … To me, that would be more authentic.”
Mr. Fong also expressed sadness over the absence of Olympic athletes in Haiti, but he said the team was the first step on a long road. He does not expect organized athletics to return to Haiti for at least three years.
Meanwhile, Jowee Omicil, a Haitian-Canadian musician, smiled at Grand’Pierre, Chouloute, their coach and their families as they emerged from the Olympic swimming venue Saturday after Chouloute’s first race. Wearing red and blue flags, they spoke in a mix of French, Creole and English.
“I bless you. I was looking for my flag,” Omicil said, his voice cracking. “That’s ancient history.”
Wearing a vintage Haiti T-shirt and a necklace bearing the country’s image, Omicil explained that he had come from Montreal to watch the team compete.
“I want you to know that people are watching you, that I am one of them and there are thousands behind me,” he told them. “People are very proud of you.
AvecAssociated Press
