Emilie Gomis, during a 3X3 basketball exhibition tournament, June 21, 2017 in Nantes. LOIC VENANCE / AFP
For twenty years, on the basketball floor, Emilie Gomis faced adversity five against five. Wednesday January 10, the former full-back or winger of the French team (194 caps) will be outnumbered by the general assembly of the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop), which must decide on its dismissal as ambassador of Paris 2024. The Cojop ethics committee accuses her of having publicly legitimized, in a “story” shared on Instagram on October 9, 2023, the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel which occurred two days earlier early. In its publication, the Israeli flag gradually supplants the tricolor standard on maps of France in 1947, 1967 and 2023. All accompanied by the following question: “What would you do in this…situation?” »
“I have always fought racism and worked to set an example”defends Emilie Gomis, in an interview with Monde. The former player, 40, admitted her fault, apologized but denied any form of anti-Semitism, saying she “shocked and hurt”. “I made a mistake in a sensitive context, but this current issue is not separateshe insists. I have convictions and I have always been able to express them even if, sometimes, it can be disturbing. » Her positions, or the controversial opinions that she sometimes relays on social networks, are, according to her, part of her “authenticity”.
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The former basketball player hypothesizes that her outspokenness may be due to her history. Born in Senegal into a family of nine children, Emilie Gomis arrived in France at the age of 3. “I had to adapt to a new culture, a different language. The first challenges arrived when I was very young. They fueled my desire to succeed. » His father, a karateka, encouraged his sporting practice, seen as a way to improve. Her mother was more reserved, anxious to see her daughter running outside and playing with boys. At the time, the future international played 3X3 basketball, one of the disciplines included in the Olympic program in 2024.
The London Olympics summit
The peak of her career: the London Olympic Games in 2012. Beaten in the final by the United States (86-50), the French team collected the first Olympic medal in the history of French women’s basketball. “We came to participate and we brought back the money”remembers with emotion the number 11 of the Braqueuses – the nickname of the team led by Céline Dumerc. “It’s very rare to be part of such a competitive team. »
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