At the Sebastien Flute archery center of Insep, Wednesday March 27, 2024. TERENCE BIKOUMOU FOR “LE MONDE”
“There, you have to imagine dramatic music, a little epic, to accompany the entry of the archers onto the shooting range. » At the microphone, speaker Marc Chavet, a regular at international competitions and who will be the voice of archery at the Paris Games (from July 26 to August 11), comments on each sequence of the Olympic simulation day, organized on Wednesday 27 March, at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (Insep). On paper, the objective seems simple: to familiarize French athletes with the conditions they will encounter this summer on the Esplanade des Invalides, if they reach the final stages.
In real conditions, it’s another matter. The archers have to deal with capricious weather conditions at the start of spring, the presence of spectators a few meters from them and that of around twenty media that they are not used to meeting at the archery center. Sébastien Flute arc from Insep.
« Make some noise » for the arrival of the athletes, continues the announcer in English, then in French version – ” makes some noise “ –, despite an exclusively French audience, around a hundred people: club members for the most part and students from establishments in the Ile-de-France region. This somewhat forced bilingualism is also part of the atmosphere that the technical management of the Blues seeks to create.
As for the decor – apart from the eleven meter high stands which will be able to accommodate more than 8,000 people, the view of the Hôtel des Invalides and the proximity of the Seine, which are missing from the picture – it is similar to that of the Olympics: a call room where the finalists present themselves, one by one, a shooting range on a platform, in line with the targets placed 70 meters away, a giant screen (there will be two during Olympic events), to allow spectators to follow the evolution of the score and the position of the arrows, a mixed zone for interviews.
On the left, Jean-Charles Valladont, 35 years old. On the right, Thomas Chireau, 26 years old.
“We try to reproduce a unique context. Archers are not necessarily used to this, because the only opportunity for them to encounter this type of situation is to compete for a medal in the European Championship, the World Cup or the Games.explains Benoît Binon, the national technical director (DTN) of a sport in which many nations excel, first and foremost South Korea.
Gusts of wind and noisy environment
“The challenge is that they get used to the presence of spectators, to the noise which can disrupt concentration, particularly at the Olympics, which attract an audience of non-specialists. Also to accustom them to communicating with their coach in a noisy environment,” continues the DTN. Posted on the stage a few meters away, with his notebook and his telescope, the national coach of the Olympic collective Romain Girouille accompanies the archers’ gesture with a “go… gently, smoothly”salutes the best 10-point arrows and suggests some corrections after less precise shots.
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2024-03-28 20:06:27
#simulation #Olympic #archery #tournament #Blues #shine #Games
