They do not have, like the Belem, an entire crew to tame the squalls and waves. The most experienced French federations may well be used to facing media demands inflated by Olympic gusts, but those born from the Games at home are unique. With Paris, their volume has been “multiplied by two or even three”, confirms Pauline Filet.
Twenty years that the communications manager of the Taekwondo Federation and its 50,000 members has been supporting these pre-Games periods. The flow has never been so important. “The major difference is the presence of journalists who do not deal with sport in general, with whom we take up the b. a.-ba. »
Without an exponential increase in numbers to manage the influx, we must make do as best we can with the means at hand to achieve a dual objective, summarized by Julien Rossignol, communications manager for the Archery Federation (74,000 members): “You have to be available to create enough links with the media so that the performances of the athletes and the discipline have the best possible exposure, without it being to the detriment of performance. »
“You have to be available to create enough links with the media (…) without it being to the detriment of performance”
Julien Rossignol, communications manager of the Archery Federation
Judicial recovery required since 2021, the vice-president of the Wrestling Federation (28,000 licensees) Jean-Carl Fossati alone plays the role of manager of requests. “I turn to technical support for validation. They (the demands) must not interfere with periods of somewhat heavy training. The difficulty is that the attention is focused on Koumba (Larroque) and we can’t really redirect it to other athletes. Even if the qualification of Mamadassa (Sylla) will help to dilute the pressure a little.”
News agencies to the rescue
Others rely on the services of specialized agencies to relieve their teams. “We intervene on several aspects, the management of incoming requests, but also the promotion of the federation by organizing events, recently in an armory or in a rehabilitation center for people with breast cancer…” explains Laurence Dacoury, director of the Blanco-Negro press agency, which supports the fencing, volleyball and athletics federations.
“The idea is to take advantage of the Olympic spotlight to show everything that fencing can bring, to say that we can also do it at 70,” she continues. We are also a kind of catalog, if for x reasons an athlete cannot respond to a journalist in his timing, we try to find someone equivalent so as not to screw up his article. It doesn’t stop. Great flexibility is required. » Because the opportunity is unique to shine in the eyes of the general public and to attract new followers to their respective disciplines.
The Archery Federation has been supported by the 15 love agency since the end of 2020. “It is responsible for sending press releases and press invitations. We continue to write and take photos of events, but we share the management of requests thanks to a WhatsApp group where we also have the DTN and the coaches,” explains Julien Rossignol.
The organization, over the last three years, of the World Cup round in Paris and the attention that accompanies it has allowed them to gauge expectations and fine-tune an efficient mode of operation, optimized to “unload the athletes” who used to interact directly with journalists. “Some people didn’t dare say no, even when they were going through difficult times. They needed us to play this role of intermediary,” says Julien Rossignol.
Support for athletes
Preserving athletes who release more or less nervous impulses during requests is one of the major challenges facing teams. “We have to know our athletes well. Interviews will not cost the same amount of energy from one individual to another. Kevin (Mayer) likes the media exercise but it costs him more than Teddy (Riner), who is boosted by this moment, compares Laurence Dacoury.
It is also necessary to give “references to the youngest”, sometimes in total discovery. “They need to understand why we ask them at a certain time and not at another, why we ask them this question, how a mixed zone works. It helps limit the level of stress which increases with the unknown,” she adds.
“What’s complicated at the moment is that everyone wants to have behind-the-scenes access”
Pauline Filet, communications manager of the Taekwondo Federation
The duo in charge of taekwondo press relations has focused on opening training to journalists once a month and centralizing interviews there as much as possible. “The idea is that we don’t constantly have cameras at Insep. Even if they tell us “we are super discreet”, this presence creates disruption for the athletes and the coaches. They don’t act quite the same way in the presence of a camera,” points out Pauline Filet.
“What’s complicated at the moment is that everyone wants to have access to behind the scenes,” she says. It is more difficult to make people understand that no, we will not let a camera in to film the physiotherapy session where the athlete is resting or that we will not film the weigh-in at the European Championships where they are underweight. clothing, that it is prohibited by the regulations. » From one federation to another, from one athlete to another, there are as many navigation plans towards the same dream destination, the Olympic medal.
2024-05-14 08:30:00
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