How Perth’s Sasha Zhoya knocked back an offer from Kerry Stokes to become a French poster boy
Sasha Zhoya is Aussie born and bred. The Perth athletics sensation is so good he was poached by the French to be a poster boy at the Paris Olympics. This is the inside story of a stunning defection.
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He is the Australian athletics sensation who was poached by France for just $65,000 – and knocked back a last-ditch bid from billionaire Kerry Stokes – to become the poster boy of the Paris Olympics.
From Perth to Paris, there is nothing small about the rise of Sasha Zhoya.
Not his ability.
“I have never seen a talent like this,” says his former pole vault coach Paul Burgess.
Not his confidence.
“I want to be the best,” Zhoya adds.
And, certainly, not his profile.
They say Brisbane Broncos glamour boy Reece Walsh is a superstar of the NRL.
Multiply it by 10 and that’s Sasha Zhoya in France.
Drive along one of the major freeways in Paris and — holy smoke — there he is. The kid from Subiaco, like a monstrous Parisian sporting deity, staring right back at you.
It’s enormous. A gargantuan, 100-square metre billboard of cool-cat Zhoya, the son of a French mum and Zimbabwean dad, promoting Adidas apparel with the slogan: “You got this”.
The slogan is dead right. The phenom has got something. Charisma. Class. Chutzpah. DNA so special he has set junior world records in the pole vault and 110m hurdles and was at the centre of a financial tug of war between Australian and French athletics bosses for his signature.
At the height of the bidding war, business tycoon Stokes, worth an estimated $6.2 billion, even got involved, vowing to match the French dollar for dollar to ensure Zhoya didn’t quit Australian athletics.
In a crushing blow for Australia, he did walk away.
On Sunday, he ran in the 110-metre hurdles for France, clocking 13.43 seconds in his heat to qualify for the semi-finals on Wednesday.
Just turned 22, Zhoya could meander along any street Down Under and barely attract attention, but on French soil, home to 68 million people, the green-and-gold defector is a big deal.
How big? In the lead-up to the 2024 Games, Zhoya did a photo shoot hurdling on a makeshift track built on – wait for it – the roof of Stade de France, the 80,000-capacity Olympic track venue opened in 1998 at a cost of $610 million.
Imagine AFL rock star Dustin Martin lining up goals on the roof of the MCG.
By rights, Zhoya should be wearing green and gold at these Paris Games. But France pulled off the Aussie ambush and are banking on Zhoya to become their next track superstar, if not at these Games given his tender age, then certainly by 2028 at Los Angeles.
“Sasha’s potential is unbelievable,” his former Australian coach Lindsay Bunn said. “To be honest, he could be one of the greatest athletes we’ve ever seen.
“I haven’t seen many kids his age with the ability to handle the mental side of things as well as Sasha does.
“I often discuss with athletes mental preparation and I normally leave that until they’re a bit older, but Sasha picked up really advanced mental techniques at a very young age.
“That’s why he was able to break so many junior records.
“I would have loved to see Sasha stay with Australia, but in the end, the offer for him was too good to refuse.”
It’s understood that deal included a major six-figure sum from sportswear giant Adidas.
Zhoya’s preference was to remain with Australia, but money talks all languages and in the unforgiving world of athletics, where many aspiring Olympians live on the breadline, the French flexed their muscle with the chequebook.
Athletics Australia offered Zhoya around $20,000 a year to stay loyal. It’s a pittance. At the same age, Brisbane Broncos NRL superstar Reece Walsh earns $450,000.
Incredibly, such was the importance of keeping Zhoya, the powerful Stokes got involved. The Channel Seven heavy-hitter held a secret meeting with Zhoya and his mother Catherine. He offered to do whatever he could to keep Zhoya in green and gold. But the French already had his signature. The carrot of being an Olympic wonder boy in the city of love was too hard to resist. Zhoya refused to renege and stayed true to his word.
“It was hard, very hard to leave Australia,” Catherine said of Zhoya’s defection.
“But again, when you talk with perspective about a professional career, it’s different than just a hobby.
“Sasha loves Australia. He was born there. He could have chosen Australia as a career path, but athletics is unfortunately very small there compared to here. It’s a European sport.
“Europe has something like 350 million people versus about 30 in Oceania.
“All the best opportunities are in Europe, so we had to go this way. Especially when it comes to hurdles.”
Of the eleventh-hour meeting with Stokes, she said: “Yes, it’s true, we did meet with him.
“He was lovely. He tried really, really, really hard to retain Sasha.
“Sasha was underage. He was 17 at the time, so I had to be there to speak with him.
“Kerry Stokes … we really appreciated his character and passion. He’s a great guy and like Sasha, a West Aussie, but it wasn’t just about money.
“Sasha doesn’t just want to be a participant in athletics.
“His ambition is to be part of the best in the world.”
Aside from the French tripling Australia’s offer, Zhoya also makes a handy living via his Adidas endorsement deal, estimated to be worth at least $120,000.
The French sealed the defection on June 25, 2019. It was Zhoya’s 17th birthday.
“Their best technique was organising a training session for me on my birthday with Ladji Doucouré (former 110m hurdles world champion in Helsinki, 2005),” Zhoya told French paper Le Monde.
“Thanks to what I’d learned technically to improve my runs, I then set the cadet world record.”
Zhoya’s under-20s world record, using smaller hurdles than Olympic height, is 12.72. The senior world record is 12.80 held by Aries Merritt. Six weeks ago, Zhoya won the French national championships.
Last year, he finished sixth in the world championships final. And while a medal would exceed expectations in Paris, this is the springboard to golden domination at Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032.
“Paris 2024 is the beginning of my story and I want to see how far it can take me,” he said.
“There’s no regrets about leaving. I’ve improved much more than if I’d stayed in Australia.”
Catherine adds: “If he makes the final in Paris, it would be fabulous. But down the track, he should be on the podium in 2028 and he would also love to win gold in Brisbane in 2032.
“Australia is always in his heart … that’s the aim.”
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Originally published as How Perth’s Sasha Zhoya knocked back an offer from Kerry Stokes to become a French poster boy
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