Lausanne (AFP)
Tony Estanguet, boss of the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (CoJo) of Paris-2024, assured Wednesday that he did not feel any reluctance on the part of the International Olympic Committee against the candidacy of Tahiti to host the events surf.
Accompanied in particular by CoJo Director General Etienne Thobois, Mr. Estanguet made an "information point" on surfing issues during a meeting of the IOC Executive Board.
Asked whether he had felt reluctance on the part of IOC President Thomas Bach or other members of the Olympic Executive, Mr. Estanguet replied: "No!".
However, he said that there was "no decision on the agenda, today it was more of an information point for the Executive Board".
In addition to Tahiti and its legendary wave of Teahupoo, four other sites are candidates to host the 48 surfer and surfers who will compete in shortboard in 2024, including three in the south-west (Biarritz, Lacanau and Hossegor-Seignosse-Capbreton) and in Brittany (The Torch).
According to different sources, Tahiti is a favorite, especially because the certainty of having waves in August is greater there and because the state sees a good eye the organization of a test overseas, " for the Games to be those of all France ".
"The IOC is very comfortable with our methodology, our criteria, with the fact that we are discussing with our Board of Directors and then coming back next year with a proposal for ratification," M said. Estanguet.
A meeting of the Board of Directors of Paris-2024 is scheduled for December 12 during which the site of surfing events could be stopped.
"Even during our CA of December 12, we do not have to make a decision," added the former triple Olympic champion. "We evaluated the applications since this summer in real conditions, we bought this comfort of having time before us, by December 2020 there will be a strong proposal".
Mr. Estanguet also assured that "all the criteria of the Agenda-2020 are at the heart of our evaluation grid for Tahiti", namely the aspects "cost, environment or sports aspects. this choice which is retained, it will have been sifted of these questions ".
© 2019 AFP