Friday July 23, Vincent Milou skipped the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. “I wondered if I wanted to go, but it didn’t speak to me more than that, so I stayed to explore the Olympic Village”, told the Landais, two days later, at the end of the “street” test – completed at the foot of the podium. “No one was there anymore, I skated on my own, it was really too good. These are spots that no one has ever seen, that no one has access to. ”
In normal times – to hear “outside the Covid-19 Games” – the Olympic village is a hive isolated from the rest of the world. Much more than a simple “village”. During the competition, thousands of athletes live there, all sports and all countries combined. This summer, the place is in the heart of Tokyo Bay, on the seafront. A place of passage and mixing between sportsmen, this summer too, despite the Covid-19.
“I had some fears that it would be oppressive, admits rower Elodie Ravera-Scaramozzino. Having known Rio (2016), I told myself that it would not be the same thing at all. In fact, there are some additional sanitary restrictions, but there is still life in the village. It is not everyone at home. ” Novak Djokovic can attest to this: the Serbian tennis player, in search of his first Olympic title, spends his time taking photos with athletes from all over the world. All came to meet him. He sometimes takes the opportunity to ensure the show, imitating the pose of Belgian gymnasts, crossed in the training room.
“Of course, we have to do daily saliva tests and wear the mask, but it’s still an Olympic village, exhibits the French archer Lisa Barbelin. Large buildings with flags everywhere, you can’t miss it! ” Lined with flags, an alley crosses the village. As usual, each nation has decorated the balconies of its apartments. The French delegation, for example, used the top five floors of their building.
“Everyone eats in a sort of cube”
“Overall, everything is fine, between the tests, the application, the mask, all the controls, we are used to it, relates the star of French handball, Nikola Karabatic. The only thing that is a bit restrictive is the plexiglass in the refectory. ” In this place where all the athletes pass, each table is divided into “cells” surrounded by high transparent walls.. Perfect for preventing contamination … but also, de facto, discussions. “The ref ‘is normally something convivial, you sit at the table, you can chat with the guys around you, recalls the double Olympic champion (2008 and 2012), looking for a third coronation in Tokyo. There, you have a plexiglass, you have to shout, that you speak over the plexiglass to be able to get along with your friends, it’s a little weird. ”
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