Overview:
Unable to care for their six children, two parents in Verettes, a commune in the Artibonite Department, gave two of their sons up for adoption. They always believed that one of them, Pierre Yvenel Stéphan, would accomplish great things. And he did, but unexpectedly in gymnastics, a sport with very limited practice in Haiti.
CAP-HAITIEN — Dieury Dorrius wishes that cell phones in 2003 were as advanced as they are today. If Dorrius had a smartphone back then, he would have had pictures or videos of his last moments with his two younger brothers. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have any of that to look at today. But his last memory with them is still engraved in his mind.
Dorrius last saw his brothers when he accompanied them on a car ride to be dropped off at an orphanage in Pétion-Ville, Port-au-Prince. That was 21 years ago. Back then, Dorrius was eight, and his younger brothers were three and two, respectively. He remembers sobbing uncontrollably. What comforted Dorrius was his mother’s assurance that he would see them again in the future. Four years later, Dorrius was comforted by his mother’s belief that wherever his then seven-year-old brother ended up, he would achieve greatness.
Indeed, Dorrius’s little brother, Pierre Yvenel Stéphan, became the first international Haitian gymnast after being adopted by a French family.
“He has an extraordinary destiny,” Dorrius, 29, told The Haitian Times. “I never expected that my mother would give birth to a gymnast—something so extraordinary. We didn’t plan this. Not even Stéphan planned this. God did. God has goals for him.”
A dream of developing gymnastics in Haiti
Gymnastics is a sport with limited practice in Haiti, so Stéphan hopes his career will inspire more Haitians to participate in it.
“People do what they see; if they can’t imagine it, they won’t do it,” Stéphan, 24, said. “I showed the way to Haitians. If they want to do gymnastics now, one person did it before them. I show them the way, but they need to go further than me.”
Stéphan dreams of leading the Haitian Gymnastics Federation one day to help the sport grow in the country. But for now, he is waiting to see if he will be selected to compete in this summer’s Olympic Games, starting on July 26 in Paris. If his dream comes true, Stéphan will become the first Haitian male gymnast to ever participate in this competition. Gymnastics has been competing in the Summer Olympic Games for 124 years.
It’s worth the wait, but at the same time, it’s agonizing for him. “It’s stressful for me,” Stephan said. “I’m like, do I train hard or take it slow to be prepared for the competition? Mentally, it’s difficult.”
While Stéphan is still waiting for his ticket to the Olympics, a female gymnast, Lynnzee Brown, who was born in the U.S., has already been selected to represent Haiti in the competition. Her participation could also give gymnastics more recognition in Haiti.
It all started in Verettes, Haiti
Stéphan was born in Verettes, a commune in the Artibonite Department, about 80 miles north of Port-au-Prince. He is the second youngest of seven children, one of whom died. His parents, Marièse Augustin and Duvalier Dorrius, were farmers who mainly produced rice and beans. They are now unemployed.
These farmers did not earn enough money to take care of six children, so they sent Stéphan and his younger brother, Nonna Nesly Stéphan, to an orphanage in Pétion-Ville, hoping that the two would return in the future to assist the family financially, Dorrius explained. A French couple, Alain and Marie-Laure Stéphan, adopted the pair of boys because they could not have children.
Stéphan was also a very energetic boy in Haiti and did not back down from fighting against his older brothers. He often ran after them with objects to hit or poke them with. Even though Dorrius is five years older than Stephan, he had trouble subduing him when they used to wrestle, Dorrius said.
Stéphan often went to his parents’ farm and, as early as three years old, he was already riding horses, Dorrius said.
When he first arrived in France, young Stéphan thought he was on vacation. His adoptive father said he was shy at first. However, that did not stop him from doing backflips at home, which is why his adoptive parents sent him to gymnastics.
There’s nothing like Gymnastics to Stéphan
Stéphan quickly fell in love with gymnastics and chose it as his preferred sport over the more popular soccer and basketball.
“In gymnastics, you can fly,” Stéphan said. “You can use all your body. In football, you mainly use your legs. The feeling is different. You do something different with the body every time. Sometimes, you do things and don’t even know how the body can do them.”
Stéphan was a dominant force in gymnastics from the start, winning many medals early in his career.
He moved out of his adoptive parents’ home during his teenage years to attend gymnastics camps.
Stéphan was inspired to represent Haiti as a gymnast after seeing many other athletes in France representing their parents’ countries and from watching the Olympics.
The Verettes native first represented Haiti in 2023 at the Pan American Gymnastics Championship in Medellin, Colombia, finishing in 40th position. He did not compete in the entire competition because he was nursing a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Stéphan has had at least four major injuries in his career, including the ruptured Achilles tendon, broken fingers, and a broken wrist. But none of these injuries could stop him. He is determined and disciplined.
“We did not expect such success,” Alain Stephan said. “We’re very proud of his dedication to his country of origin. His gymnastics journey is exemplary, and we really want him to represent Haiti at the Olympics in his adoptive country. We hope that this will be only the beginning.”
Meanwhile, in Haiti, Stephan’s biological family used to receive pictures of him. However, at one point, that stopped. After a relatively long period, they reconnected with him on Facebook. It has been two years now.
“They’re a big part of my story,” Stéphan said. “I try to be close to them. I want to go to Haiti to see where I’m from, what my situation was before being adopted.”