Photos: Venezuelan Olympic champion fencer turns to food delivery

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Photos: Venezuelan Olympic champion fencer turns to food delivery

Ruben Limardo will go for glory again at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021

Published: November 16, 2020 16:36 Compiled by Christian Borbon, Senior Web Editor and AFP

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Copy of 042492-01-02-1605530024460 — With a large delivery bag on his back Venezuelan Olympic champion fencer Ruben Limardo is out cycling around his adopted hometown in Poland, making ends meet in a strange but heartwarming tale from this time of pandemic. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 042500-01-02-1605530009830 — The 35-year-old London Olympics foil gold medallist will go for glory again at the Tokyo Olympics next year, but stunned his fans last week when he made a tweet revealing the nature of his new job. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 042499-01-02-1605530006934 — "You have to earn your way and this is a job like any other," he told AFP as he went about a typical day of training and making food deliveries for Uber Eats. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 042494-01-02-1605530026856 — And he is not the only one - 20 other members of Venezuela's national fencing team live the same improbable existence in the town of Lodz in Poland. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 042501-01-02-1605530012553 — Five mornings a week, the young Venezuelan fencers gather in a former workshop on a largely abandoned industrial site in Lodz to cross swords. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 042497-01-02-1605530029671 — At the entrance, a pile of bikes and green cool-bags await the stroke of 1:00pm when each of the fencers finish their training, has a quick shower and then sets off for deliveries in the chill of a Polish autumn. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 042488-01-02-1605530021520 — "We get very little money from Venezuela because of the crisis there. And the pandemic has turned everything around." Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 042476-01-02-1605530035569 — "There are no competitions, the Tokyo Olympics were delayed for a year and the sponsors are saying they will start paying again in the new year." Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 042474-01-02-1605530032440 — "That's why we have to make money on the road," said Limardo, who does around 50 kilometres (31 miles) per day on his bike, earning around 100 euros a week. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 042480-01-02-1605530015739 — "It works well with our training. We could even say it is an extension of the training," said the married father of two. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 042498-01-02-1605530003842 — The pandemic has created difficulties but the school is continuing to operate, with the Venezuelan fencers taking it in turns to give lessons Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 042483-01-02-1605530018713 — "But above all we are training to resume competition at any moment. The dream is still there," Limardo said. "Every time I make a delivery I tell myself that it will help me win the medal I want at Tokyo in 2021." Image Credit: AFP

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