The voice is low, very calm. He speaks slowly, the words are chosen with care. Words first to describe the indescribable. Then, very quickly, because today that’s what’s important, words to talk about work, training, and dreams of Olympic medals.
Clavel Kayitare competes in the 100 meters and 4×100 meters. At the Athens Olympics, he won a silver medal. An achievement he intends to repeat in Beijing.
From Rwanda to France
Clavel was 8 years old when he arrived in France in 1994. He left Rwanda in a hurry, severely injured. His whole family disappeared during the genocide, his right leg was burned, and his knee shredded by a grenade.
On June 5, at Orly airport, Antoine and Nadine Léonard-Maestrati welcomed a child, the one bearing number 13, of whom they knew nothing yet, for a few weeks. Time to provide medical treatment until the war ceased. The weeks turned into months. Following the shock, Clavel completely forgot his native language, and the Léonard-Maestrati couple decided to adopt him.
Then began for the teenager a long and difficult rehabilitation. Around twenty operations were attempted to lengthen his leg. For 4 years, he was confined to crutches and wheelchairs. Today, he wears a fixator that lengthens his leg by 21 centimeters.
Antoine Léonard-Maestrati is a filmmaker. With Clavel’s consent, he made a documentary about his son’s story. “Clavel, Child No. 13” was aired last April on France 3. For the needs of the film, Clavel agreed to return to Rwanda. What time hasn’t healed, the journey did.
“It’s important to talk about this story,” insists Clavel. “We need to say what happened in Rwanda in 1994. I don’t want it to be erased. It’s part of our history. It’s like if France chose not to talk about a war anymore.”
“I have two roots”
Clavel has always been very athletic. In 2000, he was crowned the top scorer in the French Handisport Football Cup. The same year, he was invited to the Paralympic Games. And for him, it was a revelation. He also wanted to run.
The first competition Clavel participated in was the French Indoor Junior Championships in 2001, in the 60m. To his great surprise, he won it. Then everything unfolded very quickly, up until that first Olympic medal in 2004.
“But with each Olympics, you start over from scratch. You prepare for four years, and you have to be ready for anything. So, I go through training camps, train 17 to 18 hours a week, and cross my fingers. I want to bring a medal to France.”
A medal for France, but in his heart, Rwanda is never far away. “In my heart, I have two countries: my host country, and my birth country. It’s like a tree that’s been moved. It retains part of its original roots. And so, I have two roots.”
With a touch of humor contradicting the seriousness of his gaze, he promises that in two weeks, he will also run for Rwanda, but it is to France he wants to return. “That’s how it is, you shouldn’t forget where you come from, nor where you’re going…”
This video is from the Web TV Nice 
