A small intermittent wind refreshes the assistance lined up in the stands on either side of the arena. The most far-sighted have shelter, an umbrella in the morning showers transformed into a parasol to counter the rays of the sun in the afternoon. The multicolored windsock twirls, ready to play tricks on the archers who were competing for the medals of the fourth and final stage of the World Cup in compound archery, a non-Olympic discipline, on Saturday. A scent of the Olympic Games has been floating on the Esplanade des Invalides for a few days, to spread more today, with the recurve finals, that of the Games.
Moved finals
We cannot qualify this World Cup as a “test event”, as the triathlon has been experiencing since Thursday a few hundred meters away, from the Alexandre-III bridge, the gilding of which can be seen behind the targets. Because only a few athletes will tread the arena’s shooting platform, since the qualifications and the first rounds of the events were disputed at the Charléty stadium, in the 13th arrondissement.
Usually scheduled in the courtyard of the Château de Vincennes, the finals have been moved to allow Paris 2024, which has covered the additional cost linked to this change of venue, to test the future site of the Olympic Games. “We have agreed with the French Federation so that the locations of the key elements, the shooting platform, the targets, the security wall, the stands, are in the same place, explains Sébastien Flûte, sports director of archery. arc for Paris 2024 and Olympic champion in 1992. The perimeter also has an interest in managing flows around the site. »
Hence the barriers posed exaggeratedly far from the entrance to the arena this weekend, where next year the training and qualifying grounds will fill the space. The turnover of volunteers (128 this year, double in a year), most of them experienced in the three World Cups organized since 2021, in the various positions. “Les Invalides is very large (13 hectares), warns Enora Lebreton, their manager. You will have to be tough! The idea is to get your bearings now in space, know the names of the streets…” And the rehearsal organized yesterday, after the events, to check the routes for the Paralympics. “It’s like an apartment, the biggest are the finishes,” smiles Flûte. And we won’t have too many for the next ten months. »
A capacity of 9,000 spectators at the Games
Does the sound of the triathlon helicopter bother the archers? How to ensure that the rain does not accumulate any more, like Saturday morning, at the level of the wall of the arena? Carpet or artificial grass on the ground? If the organizers still have a multitude of questions to resolve, the athletes are trying, for their part, to immerse themselves in the place. Small advantage for the French, who know the Esplanade.
“With the cars, the streetlights, it was hard to project ourselves … They removed the streetlights, it’s a crazy thing!, raves Caroline Lopez, double world team medalist (bronze in 2021, silver in 2023). Seeing the site is very enticing, the world that is there is already impressive. In one year, the capacities of the stands will be multiplied by six, to reach 9,000 spectators. “You shouldn’t let yourself be eaten by the place, just have it in your head, measures Jean-Charles Valladont, silver medalist at the Rio Olympics in 2016. The target will always be at 70m…”
“For an event to be successful, there is also the sporting side, and Lisa (Barbelin) is the icing on the cake”
Jean-Michel Cleroy, President of the FFTA
Each delegation was able to take part in a guided tour on Thursday. Travel time from the Olympic Village, lunch, location of the toilets… Everything was scrutinized, right down to the plan of the site frantically photographed by mobile phones. “The idea is to be able to predict and manage the hazards of athletes, to remove the unexpected as much as possible to reduce stress”, justifies Thomas Aubert, director of events and marketing at World archery and one of the guides of the day.
There remains THE question, which Sébastien Flûte cannot yet answer: “They are very demanding about the colors, the ground, the wall behind the targets, the decorations… to start preparing. Some countries even go so far as to build replicas based on it. What should be done in a few months at Insep.
In the meantime, Lisa Barbelin will be the only tricolor representative to be able to shoot, this Sunday afternoon, at the Invalides, after having reached the semi-final of the individual. “For an event to be successful, there is also the sporting side, and Lisa is the icing on the cake”, rejoices Jean-Michel Cleroy, president of the FFTA. Without a podium, the party would be just a little less crazy.
2023-08-20 08:30:25
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