Tokyo (AFP)

"We feel good at the Olympic Village": despite the general anxiety-provoking atmosphere that reigns in Tokyo, French athletes ensure that they are not particularly stressed by the atmosphere that reigns around the Olympic Games despite the restrictions applied there.

"Yes, there are masks and restrictions, but there is life in the Olympic Village. It is not oppressive at all, we do not think of that (at the Covid, editor's note)", thus explained Hélène Lefebvre, member of the French women's pair, during a press conference four days before the start of the rowing events and two days before the opening ceremony.

On Sunday, two players from the South African football team and a member of the management staying at the Olympic Village tested positive, followed on Monday by a Czech beach volleyball player, fueling fears that a hotbed of contamination would appear before even the start of the Games.

But despite that, "the atmosphere is not too stressful in the village. Everything has been put in place so that the virus, if there is any, does not spread," said Margaux Bailleul, who will compete in four of couple.

"With saliva tests every day, it is true that it is a bit of a chopper if you are positive, but it is not anxiety-provoking either," says Elodie Ravera-Scaramozzino, Lefebvre's teammate.

"Overall, we feel good in the village. It's big enough, we are free to walk there, we do not particularly feel mistrust on the part of the Japanese that we meet. All are very welcoming", confirms Claire Bové, who with Laura Tarantola will participate in the lightweight sculls events.

"In fact, the rule that frustrates us the most is not being able to enjoy Tokyo after the Games and not being able to visit anything. It's a shame," just regrets Lefebvre.

- Plexiglas on the table -

"Me, it's not something that impacts me," said Jean-Charles Valladont, archer silver medalist at the Rio Games, who entered the competition on Friday.

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"Human contacts are certainly not the same. But from a sporting point of view, there is no real difference," he continues.

"When we have the objective of winning a competition, it is not because we are forced to wear a mask, to be careful on the bus or to spit in a small pot in the morning, that there is have a sporting difference. "

An opinion shared by table tennis player Emmanuel Lebesson: "we must be able, even with these constraints, to be ready and to" perform ", this should in no case constitute an excuse".

Valladont however regrets the presence of Plexiglas partitions in the canteen of the Olympic Village.

"On a table of six, there is a large plexiglass which crosses the table horizontally and two others vertically to make a kind of small individual chest. The fact of partitioning us takes away this human side of the Games".

His teammate Pierre Plihon was "afraid of something much more restrictive, with markings everywhere, of having to walk in step, in single file. In the end, it is rather free and at the same time, we feel safe", explains the French archer.

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