Tokyo (AFP)
Clarisse Agbégnénou, on the Budokan tatami, and Simone Biles, in gymnastics, are the big stars expected at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday, but they could be stolen the limelight by tropical storm Nepartak, which disrupts outdoor sports.
For Agbégnénou, the day will be intense.
Deeply affected by the postponement of the Olympics last year, Clarisse Agbégnénou had "fallen very low", but was able to rebuild herself and come back to the top: Olympic gold, in the -63 kg category, would crown her impressive record.
"It was very difficult, very, very hard. I never thought I would be so low, in my life, in my career. I wanted almost everything to stop, I was there," said the judoka on June 10. last in Budapest, just after winning his 5th world title in the category.
Since the Rio Games in 2016, where she won the silver, Agbégnénou, 28, matures her revenge, like a form of obsession.
And that is why the additional year of waiting imposed by the Covid before being able to set foot in Budokan, the legendary judo hall in central Tokyo, weighed so heavily on him.
The weight of expectations, the American gymnast Simone Biles knows only too well.
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"I really have the impression at times of having to support the weight of the world on my shoulders", wrote on Instagram the 24-year-old gymnast, quadruple Olympic champion who can join and even overtake during the Olympic Games in Tokyo Soviet Larissa Latynina and her 9 historic gold medals.
In contention in the six finals in Tokyo, she can start her harvest on Tuesday with the team competition.
- Waves in Chiba -
Storm Nepartak, which hit Tokyo overnight from Monday to Tuesday, is also at the heart of discussions on Tuesday.
On Chiba beach, a hundred kilometers east of Tokyo, surfers rejoiced at these strong winds raising beautiful spectacular waves: the dream of surfers, ultimately, them who feared a spot too calm for adults. Olympic debut of their discipline!
The organizers even anticipated the weather situation, bringing all the surf finals, initially scheduled for Wednesday, to Tuesday.
The competitors were therefore able to string together the "tubes", the surfer's holy grail, of which they were deprived during the first two days due to a small swell.
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This busy day of surfing started at 7:00 a.m. local time with the quarter-finals, and will then feature the men's (11:48) and women's (1:00 p.m.) semi-finals, the men's (2:16 p.m.) and women's (3:01 p.m.) bronze medal matches. ) and the men's (3:46 p.m.) and women's (4:31 p.m.) finals.
On the French side, it will be without Michel Bourez, eliminated in the quarters.
"These are conditions that we often have (...) everywhere in the world", indicated the Frenchman, even if "the peaks (areas where the wave begins to break, Editor's note) move a lot".
"It was still, let's say, a mess over there," he conceded.
- Lecomte and Ferrand-Prévot -
Other sports affected by the storm include rowing.
But again, the organizers had taken the lead by modifying the program so as not to have to leave the boats on Tuesday, totally unstable in the swell.
The course of archery has also been changed to allow archers to rest in the morning.
"At the moment, it is not planned to change the schedule of other events" Tuesday, said the organization of Tokyo-2020 Monday evening.
Evacuation orders were issued in the area surrounding the Atami resort which was hit by a landslide and a massive mudslide earlier this month (21 dead and six missing).
Some rail services, including high-speed trains, will be suspended on Tuesday afternoon.
Despite the rain and a strong wind, the women's triathlon went well at the very start of the day, but again the conditions made the race difficult and there were many crashes on the bike.
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Flora Duffy took the opportunity to win the first gold medal in Bermuda's history at the Olympic Games, the French Léonie Periault taking 5th place.
3x3 basketball, where the French are aiming for a place in the quarter-finals, or even directly in the semi-finals if the combined results of the other matches are up to them, beach volleyball and tennis could also suffer from Nepartak.
Further south of Tokyo, mountain biking girls are less sensitive to the weather and Loana Lecomte, world No. 1 this season, and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will set off as favorites on the superb technical and nature course of Izu.
© 2021 AFP