In seventy days, more than 10,000 athletes will participate in the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. In theory. Because the Covid-19 pandemic still threatens the organization of this planetary raid, to the chagrin of the first concerned, already faced with the postponement of one year of the ordeal. Four French athletes, supposed to participate in these thirty-second summer Olympics, tell Release this very special preparation.
Yannick Borel, world epee champion in 2018: “There is no reason not to believe it”
Two and a half months away from the Games, Yannick Borel is now “At the heart of the preparation”. The national selections fell three weeks ago. The Olympic team fencing champion in Rio will try to do it again on July 30, along with Daniel Jérent and Alexandre Bardenet, with whom he trains twice a day at Insep.
Focused on his medal goals (he is also aiming for gold on the épée, individually), the 32-year-old Guadeloupe tries “Not to be too careful” to the health situation in Japan. “Since the report, the rumors have always been contradicted, frame Yannick Borel, whose routine does not budge one iota. As long as there is no official news in the opposite direction, I train as if they will take place. There is no reason not to believe it. ”
The Games and the Covid, the French swordsmen discuss it among themselves “From time to time, but no cancellation. We mainly talk about how we have to organize ourselves to be ready for the event. The date of departure, where we are going to train, the possible fortnight, rather those kinds of details ”. The swordsman lives “much better” the twists and turns this year than in 2020. “During the first confinement [il l’a passé cloîtré en Guadeloupe en famille, ndlr], it was pretty hard. We weren’t psychologically ready to experience this kind of global event. Today, that stresses me out a lot less. ”
However, he regrets the special case of fencing, which has only organized an international competition since March 2020, unlike other sports. “It’s a different preparation from what I’ve known, ensures the one who still has to complete two courses at the end of May and the end of June, before flying to his third Games on July 12. Before, we used to have a certain rhythm and regularly confront others. Going from one competition per month to one per year is very, very special. I try to do the best. ”
Romain Métairie
Quentin Bigot, hammer throw world vice-champion in 2019: “I would not have had the necessary time to start a good preparation for the summer of 2020”
For the hammer thrower, that Release has been following in its Olympic preparation for over a year, the Tokyo Games have a very particular taste: “We can say that these will be my first!” In fact, Quentin Bigot took part in the London edition in 2012 – he was the youngest of the expedition with his 19 years. “I don’t remember anything, I was too young”, laughs the 28-year-old. It was the first athletic life of the Metz pitcher, the one before his suspension for doping in 2014. Two years later, Bigot does not compete in Rio: he has just returned to competition, with Pierre-Jean Vazel as his coach , who agrees to accompany him in his return to athletic, clean life. For the duo, the postponement of the Tokyo Games for one year was beneficial: “After my silver medal at the Doha Worlds in 2019 [où il a d’ailleurs réalisé le minima lui donnant son ticket pour Tokyo, ndlr], I was tired. I would not have had the necessary time to rest and start a good preparation for the summer of 2020. “
This almost white season has also allowed him to work on technical details which, at his level, can make the difference and bring him closer to the 80-meter mark, where the best in his discipline evolve. “The preparation was well conducted until the end of March, even if we had to give up an internship abroad because of health restrictions. Then I got that damn virus. I suffered a week with a high fever and a very tired feeling. I got away with a full stop of ten days at a time of the year when we can still afford that. Later that would have meant disaster… ”
The launcher believes he has recovered his pre-Covid fitness level: “We managed to do a two-week internship in April at Vittel, which helped me to regain my bearings. Especially at the mental level because, when you are bedridden, your morale also takes a big hit. “
Luca Endrizzi
Christophe Lemaitre, bronze medal in 200 meters at the 2016 Olympics: “This spring, we had good conditions for training in Aix, so no problem”
From his stronghold of Aix-les-Bains, in Savoie, Christophe Lemaitre displays a calm… Olympian: “I’m fine, I’m going to start my season Thursday in Savona, Italy with a 200 meters, the distance I’m going to focus on this season.” And for which he does not yet have the minimum required to qualify. He remains with the sprinter until June 29 to run in less than 20”24, time well within his reach. No internship in April for the French record holder in the 200 meters: “The only one I did was in January in South Africa, just before the indoor season, says Lemaitre. This spring, we had good conditions for training in Aix, so no problem. ” The health situation in Japan? “Well, I don’t have more news than everyone else. I am confident, I think that the Olympics will be held, unless the health situation seriously deteriorates. “
The Rhône-Alpes sprinter has already participated in two editions of the Games, in 2012 in London and in 2016 in Rio, winning a bronze medal each time. He can already be seen on the track in the Japanese capital: “There will be no audience, of course. But in terms of prevention, I believe that a lot has been done to maintain the most important, most symbolic competition in the world. ” For the moment, the federations have not asked the athletes to be vaccinated: “We were told to be very careful, and I think I was. I am not vaccinated because I am not part of the current target [l’interview a été réalisée avant le 11 mai, ndlr], but if it is necessary to be vaccinated to go to Tokyo, I will do it. On the other hand, I have undergone a number of PCR tests, practically on every trip.
Luca Endrizzi
Marie Oteiza, third at the pentathlon world championships in 2018: “I prefer to put blinders on myself rather than say to myself ‘if that happens I’m training for nothing'”
When asked about the Tokyo Olympics ages ago – before the Covid – Marie Oteiza, 27, was shivering. Entering a stadium swollen with public and feeling this uncertainty: do we allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the crowd? Do we manage to transform the emotional influx into results? Oteiza is a modern pentathlete and this questioning usually happens once every four years for an almost confidential, but very beautiful sport, where one runs, swims, shoots a pistol, rides a horse and plays the sword. In Japan, she probably won’t experience that thrill of record attendance. But “Spectators or not”, she will be there “Happier in the world” end of July.
She talks about it in her normal voice, which does not waver. Doubt about the Games? Why ? Oteiza, in hollow, tells that a sportsman does not procrastinate: doubt is already defeat. A poison which, at the finish line, misses the touch in fencing or the second in the race, all because we “Put ideas in the wrong direction”. “I’m not thinking of a cancellation at all. In fact, I even prefer to persuade myself above all that they will hold each other up, put blinders on me, rather than say to myself “that happens to be I’m training for nothing”. “
Today, she ensures that the conditions of training and competition have not changed, apart from the mask between the disciplines and the sequence of PCR tests. The pentathlete says that a vaccination for French athletes has been mentioned, but nothing mandatory yet. She is in Székesfehérvár, Hungary, for the World Cup final, ahead of a world championship in Cairo in June. Oteiza works “With carrot”, and she is always ahead of the game: after missing the Rio Olympics for a tad, she was fully mobilized for Tokyo. “If it’s really canceled, there is Paris. Three years, it happens very quickly. “
Romain Boulho
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