Paris (AFP)
French athletes due to go to the Tokyo Olympics (July 23-August 8) are not immune to the questioning and debate that have been going through the Olympic world in recent days on the possibility of an obligation to vaccinate in order to participate, while mutations in the virus are worrying.
The dilemma does not cross only the instances in high places.
Because if the IOC took up the subject during its executive board on Wednesday, the question of the vaccination obligation, which the Japanese authorities have not implemented and that the IOC seems unable to impose, is on everyone's lips. .
"Me, that poses an ethical problem for me, I do not have the feeling as an athlete of being a vulnerable person and suddenly not at all the impression that one must be a priority, because that is it. the question asked, "said Astrid Guyart, fencer and member of the high level athletes' commission of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF).
And this is the debate raised by the possibility of compulsory vaccination: can we assume to prioritize athletes for the Olympics?
"I am divided", recognizes Mélina Robert-Michon, Olympic vice-champion in Rio in the discus throw.
"This is an opportunity to show that there is really the intention to organize the Games and what it is possible to put in place to make it happen. But will there be enough How to prioritize athletes over more vulnerable people? "
- No question of having priority -
Moreover, the point of view of the president of the CNOSF, Denis Masseglia, has recently changed on the question.
A few days ago, questioned by AFP, he assumed his position to vaccinate athletes before the Olympics, following the recommendations of the IOC, in these terms: "Yes, that would make athletes pass as a priority, but they benefit already exemptions to allow them to train, to play their competitions ".
An opinion that has apparently not won unanimous support from some athletes.
"We discussed it with him," says Astrid Guyart.
And Monday, the day of the CNOSF congress, Denis Masseglia had suddenly noticeably inflected his line: "No question of the athletes being a priority", he said, while hoping that "by the Games (... ) there (is) the possibility of having them vaccinated without this penalizing other people ".
The position of the athletes does not seem quite homogeneous, however, even if for the moment none of them has mentioned a strict anti-vaccine line.
Only Jordan Sarrou, the 2020 MTB world champion, has assumed that he does not want "by personal choice" to be vaccinated.
"I find that we lack perspective on the vaccine. But, if we have to do it, if I have no choice, I will be vaccinated".
A point of view that seems quite isolated.
"We must not forget that at the Games there will be 10,000 athletes who will meet in a restricted space, will exchange views, eat together in the canteen. I do not see how an event like the Olympic Games could be held normally if the athletes are not vaccinated, "said Quentin Bigot, 2019 vice-champion of the hammer throw, for example.
An argument echoed by sprinter Chirstophe Lemaître, bronze medalist in the 200m at the Rio Olympics for whom, the Games without a vaccine seem "very complicated".
"If ever there is a cluster in the Olympic village, it can do damage", he predicts, assuring however that it is necessary to prioritize people at risk.
- "You will have a hard time" -
"If you want to play smart and not get vaccinated on irrational grounds, I wish you a successful Olympic Games, but you will have a hard time", predicts Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, European champion and world bronze medalist. 110 m hurdles.
Ditto for gymnast Cyril Tommasone, 4th at the Rio 2016 Olympics on pommel horse, for whom "the only solution is through the vaccine."
For Laurent Tillie, the coach of the France volleyball team, who has been living in Japan for several months and coaches the Osaka club, it is even "obvious".
The vaccine issue also raises others, such as the issue of equity between countries, because not all are housed in the same boat, some having to face delivery delays.
Japan, like other countries, has for example not started its campaign, while in France a million people have already been vaccinated.
"This means that we may not all be on an equal footing," anticipates Mélina Robert-Michon.
"But the real question is the conditions of the athletes at the Olympics, on the spot. Concretely what will happen for the athletes if they are in contact, or positive. That's what we are waiting to know the athletes ", asks Astrid Guyart.
In any case, Denis Masseglia warned that, for the unvaccinated, the conditions will be "extremely difficult".
© 2021 AFP