Everything
The crowd’s cheers filled the stadium. He’d just soared an 8.08m at the World Athletics U20 Championship 2022 in Cali, Colombia. “Erwan Konaté,” his name resounded on the speakers. He excitedly hops on the top podium spot. When Mike Powell, a legend in long jump, hung the gold medal around his neck, the gravity of the moment appeared to hit Konaté. The French national anthem is playing. Erwan soaks all of it in and savours it.
Though it was his second consecutive win, this time felt different.
“I don’t remember the first time I won because it was the first time and I was young,” Erwan reflects on his 2021 win. “I lived the moment, but I don’t know what happened. But the second time was different because it was after there was a lot of pressure from my agent, my country, and the media. So I was crying on the podium when I won the title for the second time, although I don’t usually cry. I’m the type of guy that doesn’t cry. But I remembered these horrible times that I had to go through for this moment. It’s crazy. The feeling was crazy, and at that moment, I said to myself ‘Okay, I want to have the same feeling in the Paris Olympics.’”
Having outgrown the U20 Championship eligibility, Erwan’s eyes are now set on the Olympics, a realistic target for the young athlete raised in a family deeply ingrained in athletics. Erwan is the son of Papa Ladji Konate, a former triple jumper who won the Africa Cup in 1989 while his mother, Virginie Scribe Konate, specialises in the hammer throw. He even says that after their wedding, his parents went straight back to the stadium. At a certain age, his parents had to sideline their sporting ambitions due to financial constraints, but the fervour for athleticism still lives strongly within them and is now channelled into their only child.
“I don’t like group sports like, for example, football or American football, because we don’t have the same goal,” Erwan explains his choice for long jump. “My goal is to be the best in this sport. When I do a sport, I need my teammates to be on the same level. It would be horrible if I pushed myself in a match and gave it 110%, and the other guys gave only 50%. I work better solo by myself because if I win, I’m the winner and if I lose, it’s on me only.”
While Erwan loves going solo, he admits it gets quite lonely at the top.
“You live this moment alone and you grow alone. People can help you to grow, but this story and this achievement, you live it by yourself. This is the ugly truth of it. You lose a lot, but you win a lot.”
Erwan’s sense of solitude is further amplified by the diverse roles he embodies. Beyond his stellar performance in sports, he gracefully transitions into the roles of a model, a DJ, and an entrepreneur.
“I feel alone because I can’t speak with anyone about what I go through,” Erwan explains. “The guys are long jumpers, but the guys are not models or entrepreneurs. I can’t speak about this because people are normally in one bubble, and I’m in many different bubbles. Sometimes I feel alone because some people don’t understand why I do different jobs, and for these people, it’s not possible to be good in different jobs, you need to be focused on one. But I’m not okay with that.”
This loneliness can take a toll on a young athlete’s mental health, but Erwan has learned to overcome it.
“You need to lose to grow. Most people would fall and stay down. This is the difference between someone good in a sport and a champion. The champion loses but always puts his feet on the floor and gets up.”
Erwan also finds power and solace in family, a close group of five friends, and his coach, 1987 world long jump silver medalist Robert Emmiyan.
If you think he’s doing too much for someone his age, he disagrees. “You say that 21 years old is young,” he says “but it’s been my dream to succeed in sports, modelling, or acting since I was very young, so it’s not early for me. I have set these goals from very early on to reach my dreams as soon as possible.”
Erwan seems to be in a race with time, one that he runs with grace, confidence, and faith. There’s an air of quiet assurance about him, a sense that he’s always known his destiny lay in achieving greatness; now, he simply needs to reach out and claim it. It’s almost prophetic in nature, the way he propels himself forward.
When Erwan clinched the top spot at the U20 Championship, a wide grin spread across his face to reveal a teeth grill that had the number 8 on it. He’d known he would jump an 8, like a self-fulfilling prophecy. In a spontaneous moment, he then broke into a little dance for the camera.
Clearly, Erwan is no stranger to the spotlight, thriving in its glow whether on the field or under the camera’s lens. Alongside his athletic pursuits, Erwan’s journey into modelling began with a notable foray into the world of Burberry. Unlike most people think, Erwan wasn’t a sportsman who turned to modeling but rather a model who seamlessly transitioned into sports, effortlessly straddling both worlds.
“Modelling is one of my passions,” he tells ICON. “One day a scout sent me a message on Instagram. To be honest, I didn’t have the Instagram profile to be a model but I got a message saying, ‘Hey, how are you? I work for this agency, you want to be a model?’ And I said yes because it’s my dream. I started modelling before becoming a sportsman. People think I’m a model because I’m a sports guy. No, it’s not true. It’s the other way around.”
Erwan’s magnetic energy permeates both the realms of modelling and sports, infusing every space he occupies with a contagious vibrancy that captivates all those around him. He has this genuine relish for engaging with audiences, and it’s evident in the way he effortlessly enthralls them with a mere wave of a hand, setting the stadium abuzz with excitement. The energetic synergy and bond he forged with the audience played a significant role in his decision to opt for long jump instead of other sports.
“When you are on the track and you push yourself, and everyone at the stadium is clapping at the same time, the vibes and the sensation are more amazing than a 100-meter sprint because it’s only 9-10 seconds in the long jump. For me, I have six attempts, and with each attempt, I can live the moment every time. I love having this connection with people.”
Erwan embodies a win-at-all-costs mindset, akin to legendary sports figures like Muhammad Ali Clay and Mike Tyson. For him, the concept of losing simply doesn’t exist. However, holding onto the level of success he has attained is no walk in the park—it comes with its own set of daunting pressures. This intense pressure might be enough to break some people, but for Erwan, it serves as fuel, driving him to new records. “I see this pressure as something positive, a way to push myself higher and further challenge myself even more because I want to reach my goals, so I have to keep working hard. This is the third year I live with this pressure on my mind. The first year was very difficult because I was young and didn’t know what I could do or say when I had depression, or when I talked to the media, and many other things.”
But the pressure is good for me; it’s good for the performance. I want to break more records, and I want to be one of the best athletes in my country in track and field. I want to be a role model for the future generation. I want to say to this future generation: if you want, you can.”
What does Erwan want? He wants to be the youngest Olympic champion in long jump, at the age of 21, aiming to not only make his country proud but also inspire the next generation. Currently immersed in rigorous training in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Erwan spends his days weightlifting, running, and of course, jumping. This is in preparation for the European Athletics Championships in Rome this June, followed by the highly anticipated Olympics taking place in July in France, his home country.
There’s not a dull moment in Erwan’s life. When asked about a perfect day in his world, Erwan shares, “Each day of my life is a perfect day because I live a lot of things.”
Creative Direction: Dané Stojanovic
Photography: Avani Rai
Styling: Qwan Anthony
Grooming: Freddy Classics Barbershop
Senior Producer: Steff Hawker
Communications Manager: Johana V. Dana
Styling Assistant: Charlotte Marsh Williams & Janhvi Kohli
Photo Assistant: Harman Achint
Words: Sami Abd Elbaki
THIS FEATURE IS PUBLISHED IN THE 2nd issue OF ICON mena PRINT MAGAZINE. ORDER YOUR COPY HERE.
TOP BANNER IMAGE: STRIPE SPORT COAT, STRIPE OXFORD SHORT SLEEVE SHIRT, YELLOW STRIPE SILK TIE, WOOL CARDIGAN, PLEATED MIDI SKIRT, BLACK KNEE SOCKS, CALF LEATHER UNIFORM SHOE IN BURGUNDY, WOOL HAT, THOM BROWNE
