“Doing the Winter Games in Beijing, for the snow, that seems strange. But you have to get out of the point of view of the transalpine sportsman with the most beautiful ski resorts in the world. The Winter Games are also 50% disciplines which come from ice sports. And I am not much more shocked to see an ice rink in Beijing than in Paris or Montpellier ", first underlined Fourcade, during a meeting with journalists at the occasion of the Sports Stars in Tignes (Savoie).
"But if we look from a snow athlete's point of view, these are Games which transcend no one and which risk being strange to experience. But the Games are also that, a diversity, compromises", a he continued.
The super champion with 13 world gold medals did not evade the question of "human rights in China", which is hosting the Olympic Games from February 4 to 20 and the Paralympic Games from March 4 to 13.
"There is no athlete who is delighted with this situation", he warned before "procrastinating the thing".
Frenchman Martin Fourcade, five-time Olympic biathlon champion, during a photo shoot, September 30, 2020 in Paris JOEL SAGET AFP / Archives
"I find that it is not for athletes to bear all the responsibilities and it is complicated in my opinion, to put the blame on the sports movement. When in fact, in all areas of society, be it economically, for example, we buy our steel in China on a daily basis. And not many people boycott what is made in China. How many people have an iPhone made in China? "he called out.
"It's good to ask athletes to carry values. But as a society we must also look at ourselves collectively and say to ourselves, that it's complicated to ask people to do things in competitions for which they have dedicated four years of their life. I think that if the only interaction with China was the Winter Olympics, it would be known, and today it is not the case, "he concluded. .
Fourcade applied to join the Athletes' Commission of the International Olympic Committee.
© 2021 AFP