No (yet?) Special measures for athletes preparing for the Olympics

• The athletes who prepare for the Olympic Games and the qualification tournaments are in total uncertainty, between the impossibility of training and the vagueness around the holding or not of the events.
• The idea of ​​putting in place special measures so that they can meet in good conditions was raised, but is not immediately feasible.
• The Ministry of Sports, with all the players in French sport, develops scenarios so as not to waste time once people are again allowed to leave their homes.

The idea emerged at the start of the week, through the voices of a few French sports officials invited to the media. While the population is confined to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, Philippe Bana, head of the DTN association, or Ghani Yalouz, the director of Insep, echoed the start of a reflection on openness exceptional training location for athletes preparing for the Tokyo Olympics. Or qualifying tournaments, for those who have not yet been able to validate their ticket.

☕ # LEXPRESSO
Could we open the @ INSEP_PARIS only to athletes qualified for the Olympic Games?

🗯️ @GhaniYalouz: "We will not forbid anything today [...] From Monday, there will be a reflection to find a solution." pic.twitter.com/U1ttFQovA6

The subject is indeed on the table, but will not see the light of day immediately. “Nothing is acted out. We do not intend to become an exception, ”they say at the Ministry of Sports, obviously on the front line on the issue. For now, the services of Roxana Maracineanu, in conjunction with the National Sports Agency (ANS), federations, DTNs and all stakeholders, identify the athletes and the situations in which they find themselves, ensure meetings daily with international authorities and try to predict the different possible scenarios depending on whether the confinement continues for two weeks, three weeks, a month, whether it is maintained as it is, more strictly or, conversely, more flexible.

In short, the idea is to be ready to propose solutions to President Emmanuel Macron and his Prime Minister Edouard Philippe when the problems linked to athletes come to the table. "We will advocate for our ecosystem, but in due time," says one in the entourage of Roxana Maracineanu. There are other priorities right now, really. "

“Being in the best possible shape when you get the green light, that's all. "

“As soon as the sanitary conditions allow it, we will consider the possibility of a resumption of activity for the athletes preparing Tokyo under very specific conditions. But it is too early to talk about it ”, confirms the manager of high performance at the ANS Claude Onesta, interviewed by L'Equipe .

The athletes will therefore have to wait again, like everyone else. As evidenced by the many testimonies collected by the media in recent days, they do not give up. “In a normal context, we can get injured, have a truncated preparation, etc. All these things that take us out of our comfort zone, we have to know how to manage them when we are a top athlete, told us the foilist Enzo Lefort , Wednesday. We will have to be in the best possible shape when we get the green light, that's all. "

How athletes try to prepare for the Olympics anyway via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/JABQ7xNJuu

The same goes for the leaders, who do what they can but who feel helpless. "Today, it's impossible to anticipate anything," explains DTN fencing, Laurence Vallet-Modaine. But we are on constant watch. I am often in contact with the team manager, we take the information from the ministry, we try to dissect it. We expect to have a little visibility, and we will be reactive as soon as we have the exit authorization. "

More and more voices are raised for a postponement

In the meantime, discussions are currently taking place to define new qualification criteria. International federations must submit their copies to the IOC by mid-April at the latest. "This will potentially cause suffering and challenges, but we are in a case of force majeure which justifies changing the rule, said Onesta. The more we anticipate, the faster we will put an end to this uncertainty. "

By then, the IOC may have advanced on its decision whether to postpone the Olympic Games or not. On Saturday, the powerful American athletics and swimming federations, as well as French swimming, took the front line to put pressure. Not enough to impress, for the moment, Thomas Bach, who judged Friday that it would be “premature” to take such a decision.

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• Roxana Maracineanu
• CNOSF
• Coronavirus
• OJ 2020
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• Covid 19