Under a good decimeter of snow, which fell at night, it was difficult to see the athletics track under construction. It is also not easy to imagine that the best Chinese athletes will be treading on it in six months. However, in a few days, Deauville will officially announce their arrival on its land, before and during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (OG).
The seaside resort of the Côte Fleurie will not be the only town in Calvados to benefit from an “Olympics effect” by welcoming one or more foreign sports delegations. Fifty kilometers away, in Caen, the smell of the Games is also beginning to be felt. Just like in Bayeux.
After hosting the torch relay in May, the Caennais will live at the Olympic pace in July by hosting some of the Chinese teams (women’s volleyball), Canadian teams (Olympic swimming and open water swimming) as well as the Refugee Olympic team (swimmers and rowers). The latter, created in 2016 during the Rio Games and formed under the aegis of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), will however be largely based in Bayeux for the pre-Olympic period.
Deauville and Bayeux have asked the capital of Calvados to join in welcoming the Chinese teams and refugees. To maximize their chances of attracting foreign Olympic committees, the different towns of Calvados labeled “Terres de Jeux” united to present joint applications. “Real teamwork”underlines Aristide Olivier, deputy mayor of Caen in charge of sports, in his office marked by the presence of a huge Phryge plush toy, the official mascot of the Games.
Five visits by Chinese officials
This was necessary. Like Caen, Deauville and Bayeux, more than 900 communities nationally have obtained, for their sports and associated reception facilities (accommodation, catering), the “Games preparation centers” (CPJ) label issued by the Games preparation committee. organization of Paris 2024. With the hope of making them training places and a rear base for sports delegations from around the world, and of energizing their territory.
Hope, because being listed as CPJ does not guarantee the arrival of these delegations: it is the national committees and the federations which choose where to set up. You have to convince them. Not easy! Moreover, many municipalities have still not found a buyer – some having invested in the process to renovate sites. During the London Games in 2012, only 15% to 20% of CPJs welcomed delegations.
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