In anticipation of the big global meeting and on the initiative of the Department and the Departmental Olympic and Sports Committee, the practice of sport is encouraged in the municipalities.
The 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris are almost tomorrow. They might come through here. They are, in any case, invited to the fair of municipalities and intermunicipalities of the Gard whose sixth edition was held this Thursday at the exhibition center of Nîmes.
Paris 2024 had a stand, the Departmental Olympic and Sports Committee and the Department of Gard too. In the provinces, the last two structures are an extension of the first. Everyone wants to take advantage of the craze for this planetary event to encourage the practice of sport everywhere.
Promote the territory and the practice of sport
This was the meaning of a round table during which Philippe Montagut, the president of the departmental Olympic and sports committee, insisted on the need “to set up sports projects around Olympism by associating the Department and the municipalities to promote the territory”.
This is what Boisset-et-Gaujac recently did. It is one of the twenty-eight municipalities in the department labeled Terres de Jeux 2024. “We are committed to putting more sport into the daily life of the inhabitants by creating a multisport ground”, testifies Julien Heddebaut, the mayor at the origin also , for four days in May, of an Olympic week during which, according to a protocol worthy of the Olympic Games, schoolchildren took part in archery, athletics, fencing and break dancing, new test in two years in Paris.
28 municipalities, 5 preparation centers
Saint-Bauzély, Saint-Jean-du-Gard and Uchaud are the last towns to be labeled Terres de Jeux. From Grau-du-Roi to Alzon, via Nîmes, Alès, Pont-Saint-Esprit, Sommières, they are twenty-eight in the Gard. In addition, thirty-five social establishments (twenty-five schools, six colleges, three high schools and the University of Nîmes) are classified as Generation 2024. Finally, five Games preparation centers have been approved: the Pujazon stadium and the Clavieres in Alès for athletics and volleyball, the Beaucaire base for rowing and canoeing, the Méjannes-le-Clap center for road cycling, break dancing and 3X3 basketball, Le Grau-du- Roi for sailing and Nîmes for archery. They are the ones who are likely to welcome delegations for their preparation.
“The practice of sport has become an issue since the pandemic, believes Vincent Bouget, departmental adviser for sport. Terres de jeux is a tool that should allow us to value and develop it.”
Obtaining this label is purely symbolic. Above all, it depends on the political will of elected officials. However, the prospect of the Games and the possible reception of foreign delegations wishing to prepare are a godsend for the restoration of certain sites in the department which can benefit from various financings.
