Paris
The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
Kiteboarder De Falbaire will represent Mauritius at the Paris Olympics.
De Falbaire has never lived in Finland and does not speak Finnish.
However, he owns a Finnish passport and has competed in Finland in 2013.
De Falbaire does not want to represent Finland, but feels that he is more Mauritian.
Twenty Jean de Falbaire woke up from the apartment in Turku and looked around anxiously. His life was about to change completely.
De Falbaire, now 26, had applied to Turku to study marine engineering and spent time in the apartment owned by his mother because of the entrance exams.
It was early summer, but de Falbaire was not enjoying being in Turku.
He had lived almost all his life on the paradise island of Mauritius and was used to spending much of his time on the beach and in the sea.
“In Finland, it felt like I was locked in a cage,” de Falbaire remembers.
“I grew up in a place where I woke up at 4:30 in the morning and went surfing before school. After school, I threw my backpack at home and ran straight to the beach. Now I woke up from my apartment in Turku, and I didn’t have the energy to do anything. I just sat there and thought, what the hell am I going to do now,” says de Falbaire.
Jean de Falbaire loves his life on the beach.
De Falbaire’s Finn Weird-mother had encouraged, according to the son, maybe even pressured, her son to apply to study in Finland.
However, even a short time in the Finnish city convinced de Falbaire that he would never move to Finland.
“I told my mother that I’m sorry, but even if I get to school, I’ll go back to Mauritius,” says de Falbaire.
“I was sad for my mother because I hadn’t had time to spend much time in Finland in the last few years anyway. But I just didn’t feel at home there.”
If de Falbaire had decided to stay in Finland at that time, about seven years ago, he would hardly be competing in the first Olympics of his life in Paris right now.
Jean de Falbaire represents Mauritius at the Olympics.
De Falbaire is very likely the most unknown Finnish athlete at the Paris Olympics. He represents Mauritius in kiteboarding, but also owns a Finnish passport. Kiteboarding is participating in the Olympics for the first time.
De Falbaire has never lived in Finland and does not speak Finnish. He was born in Zimbabwe, where his mother, who was a bush pilot, met her husband. The couple had three children. Due to the unstable conditions in Zimbabwe, the family moved to Mauritius when de Falbaire was seven years old.
However, Finland is a familiar place for Mauritius’ Olympic representative. As a child, he often spent time in the summer in his mother’s home country. According to De Falbaire’s memory, in the countryside near Salo.
“When I was a teenager, trips to Finland started to decrease because I loved spending my holidays in Mauritius. In my early twenties, I already started traveling a lot for kiteboarding, and when I have free time, I just want to relax at home in Mauritius,” says the kiteboarder.
Kiteboarding is an Olympic sport for the first time.
The last time de Falbaire visited Finland was last summer. He went to see the apartment his mother had bought.
De Falbaire’s mother moved abroad as a young adult and has never lived in Finland. He runs a real estate business in Mauritius.
For a kiteboarder, trips to Finland are a good way to catch your breath.
“I like fishing, sauna and going for walks in the woods. The nature is so different from Mauritius. Time seems to stop when I come to Finland, because I can’t do water sports like in Mauritius,” says de Falbaire.
DE Falbaire loves the sea and his lifestyle that revolves entirely around water sports. He has never studied at a university but swears that he will work all his life in water sports or boating.
Besides, De Falbaire doesn’t see only good sides in studying.
“When I thought about going to study in Finland, I was already competing in kiteboarding. I didn’t want to go into a life of drinking alcohol as a social pastime,” says de Falbaire.
“If I’m honest, I only took the entrance exams for my mother’s pleasure. He was starting to get really annoying,” de Falbaire laughs.
De Falbaire has no intention of moving out of Mauritius.
“Have you been to Mauritius? You have to come and see people’s lifestyle. I don’t often want to brag, because we Mauritians are privileged, and I don’t want anyone to feel bad. But the sea, I love it so much,” De Falbaire enthused.
Anyone has never asked De Falbaire if he would like to represent Finland in sports.
“Hardly anyone even knows that I have a Finnish passport,” he laughs.
The Finnish passport is extremely useful for de Falbaire when he travels to compete and train in Europe.
Once, Falbaire has also competed in Finland. It happened in Yyteri in 2013.
“I remember that I won the race. I’m not sure if he even got the title of Finnish champion from the race. So I might be the champion of Finland”, laughs Falbaire.
Jean de Falbaire in an archive photo in Yyteri in 2013. According to the photo information, the sea water felt cold to a man used to the waters of Mauritius.
He has never seriously considered switching to blue and white colors at some point.
“Even if I could get more financial support in Finland? I’m not sure how the system works there though. But now I’m 80 percent dependent on my private partners,” says Falbaire.
“At least the Finnish team certainly has good conditions, because the Olympic team is bigger.”
There are only 13 athletes in the Mauritius team.
“However, I feel more Mauritian than Finnish”, so the choice is clear.
His competitive career at the Olympics began on Sunday.
#Olympics #Jean #Falbaire #lived #Turku #good #week #shocked #entrance #exams #mother
