Evron. Athlete Mélanie Noël remembers the Beijing Olympics

The testimony

Mélanie Bardis (now Mélanie Noël) is a weightlifter from CA Évron. In 2008, she participated in the Beijing Olympic Games in the under 49 kg category, where she finished 5th.

Four years later, after having a child, she took part in a second Olympiad, in London in 2012. She finished in 10th place in the competition.

My best memories are in Beijing. It’s the first, it’s the unknown. It was a discovery from A to Z. We had arrived at least a week before in the Beijing area, to prepare. Then we moved to the Olympic village.

We arrive at the village like kings, we discover things we have never seen. I remember the cafeteria, huge, with all the culinary cultures of the world. And then, it is a real village with shops, places to get your nails done, etc. I met French champions there, like Stéphane Diagana. I have a memory of Roger Federer too.

An experience lived as a family

I didn’t see the opening ceremony because my competition was the next day, but I preferred it that way. It was a weight off my shoulders, no pun intended.

Afterwards, I really enjoyed it! I wasn’t going to come back to train, that’s for sure. It was special, because I was preparing my wedding, and so I thought I would end my career after the Games. I went to see other sports, diving, Mehdi Baala’s 1500m final… Seeing the Olympic flame burn at the Bird’s Nest was just beautiful.

I also saw Thomas Bouhail’s silver medal in gymnastics. I tried to do a bit of all the structures.

On the one hand, I knew why I was here, in terms of sacrifice and work, and on the other, I wondered what I was doing there. I went to the France club, with photos, interviews. It was magnificent. We were in great demand, I can’t even imagine for the medal winners. Afterwards, I settled down. And then my parents and my future husband were there, I was even able to show them around the village before it was only open to athletes. They were able to see all the French weightlifters competing. Then, we visited Beijing, we saw the Great Wall of China and all the great monuments around… We enjoyed ourselves, really!