Europe 1 2:02 p.m., February 04, 2022
The Beijing Winter Olympics begin on Friday.
In addition to an ultra-strict anti-covid system, these Games are marked by the diplomatic boycott of several Western powers due to China's failure to respect human rights.
Martin Fourcade, French biathlon champion remains convinced that it is necessary to participate in these games.
The Beijing Winter Olympics begin on Friday.
In the stands of the Beijing Olympic Stadium where the ceremony takes place, there will be no audience.
On the other hand, the dictators will be there.
Vladimir Putin made the trip, as did Kassym-Jomart Toakïev, the President of Kazakhstan, as well as Mohamed ben Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
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In total, around thirty Heads of State will be present.
But there will be no French, American, British or Australian representatives due to a boycott to denounce the non-respect of human rights in China.
A cause to which athletes are not insensitive.
Athletes are "sensitive" to the conditions of the organization of the Olympics
Martin Fourcade, the most successful biathlete at the Olympic Games and president of the Paris 2024 Athletes' Commission was the guest of Europe Matin this Friday morning.
"Am I sensitive to all the remarks that are made on human rights, on ecology? Of course the athletes did not choose the place of the Olympic Games, which many of them would have of course like to do them elsewhere", admitted the French champion.
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"Once we've said that, are we going to boycott? Should we cancel? I think we also live in a time where we need to find ourselves. We need to look towards forward. The Olympic Games are still one of the rare events in the world that brings people together, whatever their religion, whatever their age, whatever their skin color. We can show that we can live together. We can waging war, if I may say so, on the sports field and besides that, sharing some pretty incredible emotions as an athlete," he added.