Par Aline Chatel
Published on 14 May 22 at 17:37
Swimming, athletics and archery will be on the program for the 2022 Gymnasiade in Caen. More than a thousand young athletes (15-18 years old) will compete at the nautical stadium, the Hélitas stadium and the Venoix stadium from this Monday, May 16, 2022. For the deputy mayor in charge of sports, Aristide Olivier, the event must promote Caen as much as promote physical activity.
What was the process that enabled Normandy, and in particular Caen, to host the Gymnasiade?
It was first France that applied. She got the organization. Then, Normandy, through the UNSS, applied with the desire to organize an event that would penetrate all the major cities of the region. That’s why we have events in Caen, Le Havre, Rouen. The head office is in Deauville. In Caen, we get three great events with athletics, swimming and archery. Para athletics and para swimming will also take place in Caen. This is the first time that they have joined the Gymnasiade program.
We said yes to this Gymnasiade because it allowed us to link sport and youth. This also allowed us to further strengthen the sporting dimension of the city for the youngest and high school students.
Is there a link between this Gymnasiade and the proximity of the 2024 Olympic Games in France?
These are two things that were done at different times. The fact that this takes place in 2022 allows us to open this great sequence which will take us to the Olympic Games in 2024 and to include Caen in this sporting dynamic. In addition, there has been a favorable combination of circumstances with the Normandy Channel Race, currently, and the French Elite Athletics Championships in just over a month. This opens a superb sports session.
“Showing the benefits of sport for the youngest”
How many athletes will there be in Caen? Where will they be housed?
All the athletes will be welcomed in Deauville. In Caen, there will be just over 1,000 athletes: around 600 in athletics, 300 in swimming and a hundred in archery. They will be in Caen for four days. Shuttles will take them.
Do you also want to promote Caen through this Gymnasiade?
Yes, very clearly. There is a double component: showing the benefits of sport for the youngest and further strengthening the sporting dimension that has existed for a long time in Caen. We reactivate it through sporting events. We show again that sport is at the top of the bill in our city.
Do young people from Caen do a lot of sport?
They play sports, first of all because we are lucky to have a lot of sports facilities in Caen. All Caennais are less than five minutes from a sports facility. This infrastructure part allows you to play sports. But the Caennais, like the rest of the population in France, practice a little less sporting activities than 15 or 20 years ago. This should raise questions for us collectively because it is a fundamental public health issue. We are now trying to get young people to practice sports.
“Bringing sport into the daily life of the people of Caen”
How to get young people to come back to sport more?
We are facing a social movement. Sedentariness is observed regardless of the age groups. This is a problem that we already identified a few years ago in Caen. The “sport on prescription” device that we launched four years ago had a very particular angle, particularly linked to obesity in children. The objective was to identify, particularly in the school environment, children who do not move and who are overweight to bring them into this system. These are thirty free sessions, fully supported by the City, with a hyphen in a club so that they can continue to practice sport. The system works well, in particular because we then follow these young people for a year.
At the same time, we will have to use the Olympics to bring sport into the daily life of Caennaises and Caennais. It’s a huge issue. It’s not just a slogan. I am absolutely convinced that it is the stake of the Olympic Games, here, where there will be no test. When we talk about sport, it is not necessarily competitive sport. It is physical activity. We will launch a whole program at the start of the school year in September.
Gymnasiade, French athletics championships, new Palais des Sports, reception of Olympic delegations… The dynamic is good for Caen!
We have had more difficult years (smiles). Caen is truly a city of sport. When you see that the Palais des Sports is full for the CBC playoffs, that there were 18,000 people at d’Ornano for a game without stakes… The people of Caen and Caen love sport. At the moment, there is a good conjuncture between the events and the clubs that are working well. This highlights that sport in Caen is a reality, and a positive reality.
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