Edward Berthelot via Getty Images
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PEOPLE – Having become chief of his village in Yaoundé, a city in which he spent part of his childhood, the former tennis player Yannick Noah, 61, tells in the TF1 program seven to eight his news in Cameroon, this Sunday, May 8.
For several months, Yannick Noah, who was born in France, has been the new chief of the village of Etoudi, which has become a district of the Cameroonian capital. His new function, he sums it up as follows: “to help as I can” the “tens of thousands of people” who live in the village. “So I get a little bit of trouble, he explains to journalist Audrey Crespo-Mara. There are grievances.” “There is no vital card there, he adds. […] When we don’t have the money, we let you die.
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Yannick Noah is rare. It must be said that, for more than a year, he returned to live where he grew up, in Cameroon, in the village of Noah, of which he became the chief on the death of his father.
A new life that he tells tonight, at 7:30 p.m. on @ TF1 in front of @audrey_crespo. pic.twitter.com/fe4n9YzQvN— Seven to Eight (@7a8) May 8, 2022
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A new life “which [lui] seems a little strange” because he feels “very French”. To put on this new costume, after the death of his father, he was however able to count on “the advice of the elders”. But for the only Frenchman to win at Roland Garros in 1991, tennis is never far away. In Cameroon, he trains children in this sport and has already spotted a talent.
His father’s dream
“In particular, I have a young girl who plays really, really well, who has extraordinary qualities”, reports Yannick Noah, whose “crazy dream” with the girl’s parents is to see her play on “the central” of the French internationals.
During the interview, he also talks about his relationship with his father, especially the day of his victory at Roland Garros. “Dad had this idea to put even more emotion by jumping on the ground, he recalls. […] I wish everyone the chance to cry with joy in their father’s arms.”
In January, during a meeting with the media Brut, he said that his return to Cameroon was in particular to fulfill the dream of his father, who died in 2017. “His crazy dream was that I come […], I think I could not have come three years ago, it was not the time, he confided. And then, all of a sudden, it was time.”
See also on The HuffPost: Yannick Noah embarrassed by the “silence” of white athletes on racism
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