Faye Njie won a bronze medal in the senior African Judo championship in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
Njie edged Djibouti Fernanado Rodrigo in the -73 kg to finish third on the podium after losing the semi-final against a Tunisian opponent.
The Senior African Judo Championship is part of a series of qualifiers for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
The 30-year-old Finnish- Gambian has wealth of experience and has accumulated a host of medals since he started representing the Gambia. He represented the Gambia in the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. He missed the All-African Games in Accra due to a muscle injury.
Faye’s muscle injury kept him out of action for four months. He was a silver medalist at the Commonwealth Games 2022 edition and also got another silver in the 2015 African Games.
Faye will compete in two more competitions before Paris 2024, first in the Grand Slam in Kazakhstan and the World Championship in the UAE.
“These two competitions are part of the qualification, and the aim is to win as many fights as possible. It’s a good preparation for the Olympics because the same people that will be there will be in Paris. You have the possibility to meet them in the fights, sort of scout them, and know the techniques in hand.” Njie mentioned.
The Cairo competition was his second outing in 2024; so far, he was in Turkey in Antalya and was knocked out in the round of 16.
“I don’t consider my quest to achieve an Olympic ticket as pressure; this is my passion, and I always do my best when I am on the mat. I have goals to win fights and do my best. I feel I gained more experience compared to my two Olympic outings in Rio and Tokyo. I feel this time I will be more mature in my fights. The more fights and competition I have, the more confidence I regain.”
” I feel like the next competition will be much better. It will mean a lot to me; it will be a huge success to represent my country three times in a row in the Olympics. I feel I am reaching my peak, and I feel it’s time to give my best results.”
Njie also pointed out that Judo has developed well in Gambia since he started competing.
“Gambian judo has developed significantly since I started to represent the Gambia. Right now, we have more athletes coming and reaching top levels. When I started, there was no one, and now we have a few athletes, and many young people are coming up too. Giving me the assurance that we will have a good delegation in the future for subsequent events and competitions. When you have athletes who are promising, it is very important to support them, as they are the generation,” he added.
