From Backway to Gold Medal: Karateka Edrisa Jallow fights his Way back to glory

Before leaving, Jallow was an active member of the karate community. He trained regularly, competed in tournaments and showed considerable promise.

In 2023, while still in Grade 11, he dropped out of school and left The Gambia through the backway. The decision, he says, was driven by financial hardship at home.

“If my mom could not provide, I have to,” he recalled.

What began as a search for opportunity became an ordeal lasting one year and ten months. At one point, he walked approximately 420 kilometres with a companion who became his lifeline. He was later intercepted in Algeria and deported to Niger, where he spent three weeks in detention.

“That day, I lost all hopes of making home better,” he said. “It was so hard for me. It felt like everything had come to an end.”

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) eventually facilitated his return to The Gambia. But his return marked not an end, but a new beginning.

Back to the Tatami

Jallow had been practising Shotokan karate since 2015. After returning home, his mother encouraged him to resume training.

“My passion for karate inspired me to come back to the dojo,” he said. “When I walked back into the dojo and saw the tatami, I felt I had returned home.”

Returning was not easy. After nearly two years away, his fitness had dropped and competition rules and kata had evolved.

Sensei Pateh Jobe, his senior instructor at Waza United Karate Club and Technical Director of The Gambia Karate Federation, said Jallow had to work twice as hard.

“Before he went on the backway, he had more speed and was more focused. After coming back, his concentration was lower. He had to work twice as hard to get back to where he was,” Jobe said.

Yet with less than a month of formal training, Jallow entered his first major competition after his return and impressed. He went on to win an international championship hosted in The Gambia.

Since then, he has won several local and international tournaments in The Gambia and Senegal. His latest triumph came in Guinea at the 6th Edition of the Union of African Karate Federations (UFAK) Championship, where he competed in the senior category and won gold.

This time, the journey was different. Three years ago, he travelled through the backway searching for a better life. This time, he travelled as a national athlete, carrying The Gambia’s colours onto the international tatami — and returned home with another gold medal.