Journalism of Courage
Cyrille Tchatchet never got sullen in his usually week-long silences after disagreements with Gyan Singh Cheema, the weightlifting coach, who had taken him in and offered to help with his chosen sport at Birmingham. Stoic, yes. “He always dressed sharp, was strong-minded and spoke his opinions, and if we debated, he would be quiet for a week, then return and say ‘maybe, ok, let’s give it a try. He never forgot to be a proud sportsman who deeply loves weightlifting, no matter how dire his situation,” Cheema recalls of the curious boy who walked into his Warley weightlifting club at Smethwick near Bromwich, one evening.
Dire would only begin to describe this unique situation, and Cheema, himself an immigrant to Birmingham in the 80s, stresses he himself wouldn’t have been able to stay so poised through the tumult.
As a 19-year-old, Tchatchet came to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games representing Cameroon. And never returned home. He slept under a bridge for a while, often contemplated suicide, he has said in the past, and was coaxed to call the suicide helpline by some samaritans in the region. The police came after his call, his suicide urges were curbed, and the police custody kickstarted his asylum case though it would take a further two years for him to be legally allowed to stay in the country. Tchatchet would also eventually pursue studies to become a mental health nurse.
Cheema says he knows of many from the developing world choosing to disappear in western countries under the pretext of sport, living the uncertain life of a refugee before processing asylum formalities. And forgetting sport along the way. Tchatchet didn’t forget.
He wound up from Glasgow to Birmingham after some rough times with the authorities who tried to deport him several times. “But he knew the pathway and his rights in the UK. He stayed patient. What surprised me was he didn’t quit sport.”
Eight years on, Cyrille Tchatchet will represent England at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. And might well be fighting for bronze in the 96 kg category, against India’s Vikas Thakur, a lifter Cheema has been mentoring on competition techniques for the last few days here.
Tchatchet wants it more badly, Cheema, a former Asian Games medallist settled in Birmingham, warns with a guffaw, adding he’s split because “heart is with India. But my boys them both.”
Tchatchet’s journey to donning England colours, was iron-hearted in ways that make mere pulling of a very heavy bar over the head seem fairly ordinary. “Accommodation for refugees wasn’t great. Just a little room, don’t know how good the food was and if he even ate everyday. Plenty of times, we would accompany him to the railway station, and all the lads would have fish and chips with him, knowing he hadn’t eaten,” Cheema recalls.
The teen had walked in after being told at Birmingham University where he was registered, that Warley was the best gymnasium for serious lifters, around. He had found good legal aid and a helpful lady solicitor who guided him well. “Can you imagine, finding yourself fighting for right to live in a country, and achieving in sport? It takes a strong heart,” Cheema says of the 4 year Tchatchet spent at his facility.
When he graduated to Middlesex University, Cheema would help find him a place to live in London using his network of lifters, though it was the least he could do for a young man in whom he saw potential. “You could see he wanted to do sport. Dedicated, technically strong. But he kept lifting best in each class and won the British U23s. They didn’t give him the title though, but took it away after the ceremony, since he didn’t have a passport. It hurt him, but he stayed on the straight path.
“Another lifter from Cameroon had also stayed on. He chose short-cuts and got married to a local lass, but faced many problems. And he never managed to stay on in sport after early competitions in Derby. Cyrille stayed,” he says. The deportation threats made life difficult for him, but he found a steady totem at the Warley club. “Sport kept him going, kept him occupied and competition and winning gave him a pathway though sporting authorities didn’t really help him initially.”
Always self-assured, clear about the manner in which he would seek citizenship, Tchatchet confidently pursued sport, putting all his screw-eyed focus into literally lifting the heavy weight of existence. He kept trying to bring his mother here, but failed attempts wouldn’t bog him down. “He would talk about his problems and as ethnic minority odds were stacked against him, but his shoulders never dropped,” Cheema recalls, as a pair of uncles from France were the only family he met for two years.
The tunnel with the proverbial light, would pass through neon signs of takeaways he couldn’t always afford in his refugees allowance. Debates on technique with Cheema, a veteran of the sport, got interesting. “I like young athletes with strong opinions. Cyrille was never a ‘yes sir’ man. If he didn’t agree, he’d tell me ‘you are distracting me, man’ and then be quiet for a week before realising and returning. He was quite educated and intelligent. Excellent attitude,” Cheema says. Tchatchet’s short pulls as he was very fast under the bar would often snap a shoulder twitch or cause knee injuries, and Cheema would keep drilling on about extending the arms more. “Those disagreements on sport told me he cared about his sport.”
“To me, helping a star shine through the darkness was most satisfying. We sportspeople love it when we guide winners.”
At Cheema’s private training room at Council leisure centre, the old doyen would hand him the keys to practice any time of the day. “We remove all obstacles for elite athletes. He showed he wanted to be elite.”
Cheema though advised him on basics like a father figure. “Get your graduation, find a job, I’d tell him. I told him he has to get through this struggle, it’s not going to be easy.”
Tchatchet would inch closer to the passport by 2020, and the International Weightlifting Federation would induct him in the Refugee team for Tokyo Olympics, with his University and Team GB federation taking over his training. “We moved apart, but I can say he did his best lifting improvements under me,” Cheema says. “Now he’s a big name.”
Cheema, who rues never winning an Arjuna, and has been helping Indian lifting teams since 2014 CWG preps offering his base to acclimatise, says just thinking back to Tchatchet’s struggle tires him. “I’m an old man now and Indians winning gives me joy. But this boy should be hailed. In that situation, anyone would think – earning bread to eat and a place to live. Sport would be the last thing on anyone’s mind. Not Cyrille Tchatchet. Boy stayed.”
