She pulls twice on the laces of her running shoes, this Tuesday afternoon in April. Before her daily sports session, Sarah Koster, 39, is wary of her ankles which have “tendency to twist”. So, she squeezes hard at the malleolus. There is no question of getting injured before going on patrol this night with the emergency police at the Saint-Brieuc police station. Especially since the chief brigadier is preparing to join the security bubble which will accompany the Olympic flame.
Sarah Koster is among the 115 police officers and gendarmes responsible for protecting the torch and its bearers during the relay which will start from Marseille on Wednesday May 8 and pass through 400 cities until Paris on July 26. Equipped with a light handgun, a cranial earpiece, a bulletproof vest and a custom-designed backpack, these civil servants and soldiers, divided into twenty units rotating throughout the course with a system of rest days, will trot as close as possible to the flame, around twenty kilometers per day and in all weather.
“The physical challenge doesn’t worry me”warns Sarah Koster, who is seconded from the Saint-Brieuc police station for this project from May to September. “ The most complex? Remain vigilant from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. An attack can come from anywhere, at any time”, explains the civil servant, whose schedule was not precisely set for mid-April. In any case, she knows her mission: “We run while scanning the crowd 360 degrees. We secure. If necessary, we protect and neutralize. Above all, we are moving forward. Whatever happens, the Olympic flame must continue on its path and not be extinguished. »
A popular and festive event
During three one-week training courses, Sarah Koster was prepared to be operational ” whatever happens “. Charles Barion, police commissioner co-responsible for securing the route with a gendarme counterpart, details the extent of the threats: attempted theft of the torch, jet of water coming from a balcony, cardiac arrest of a porter, operation surprise by opponents of megabasins or the A69 motorway, drone attack, demonstration by strikers to publicize a social conflict, attack on ultra-left or ultra-right activists, terrorist attack, etc.
“We could have placed the flame in a popemobile and kept the crowd away to protect ourselves from the risksexplains Charles Barion. France is a democratic republic. The relay must be a popular and festive event. We hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Our security bubble is trained to react accurately depending on the scale of the attack. »
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