The total screen version, sunglasses and feet in the water of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will not be available, in the heart of Marseille, until a little over a year from now, after the entrance on May 8 2024 of the Olympic flame by its Old Port. However, without the metal barriers that still surround the renovation site of the Roucas-Blanc marina and the white dust blown by the east wind that emanates from it, we would already believe we are there.
From July 9 to 16, in scorching heat, the southern harbor of France’s second city will be the scene of the first “test event”, allowing the organizers of the 2024 Olympics to test their level of organization. In the ten disciplines of Olympic sailing – dinghies Ilca 6 (women), Ilca 7 (men) and 470 (mixed), double sculls 49er (men) and 49er FX (women), Nacra17 (foil catamaran, mixed), IQFoil (windsurfing, men and women) and kitefoil (foil towing by a kite, men and women) – 350 athletes representing 55 countries will compete on the five “regatta rings” of the competition area, under the conditions weather that awaits them, more or less, next year, at the same time.
“It is traditional for the host country to organize, one year before the Olympic Games, for the sake of fairness for the competitors, a number zero, a life-size model of what the regattas will be like”, explains Cédric Dufoix, site manager Marseille and Nice for Paris 2024. Unlike an athletics stadium or a swimming pool, which can be reproduced identically anywhere in the world, each Olympic water body has specificities, in particular in matter of currents and winds.
For two years, a hundred nations have been training regularly in Marseille to tame a body of water under the influence of the relief and the surrounding islands. In addition to France, some major Olympic sailing nations (Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand, etc.) have even opened a permanent base there. “The test event allows countries that cannot afford to be here full time to sail at least a few days, in real conditions, before the queen event”, continues Mr. Dufoix.
“We want finals and podiums”
“This test event is clearly for us the sporting objective of the year,” said Philippe Mourniac, director of the France team, during a press briefing. “We are not going to pretend that we are here to try equipment, we want finals and podiums”, insisted the national technical director, Guillaume Chiellino, specifying that this Marseille stage will weigh heavily for the Olympic selection, to be revealed in some months.
Beyond the sporting aspect, it is above all a question for the organizers of ensuring that the marina is operational and that the technical, medical and safety devices at sea present no flaws. In charge of the latter, the Maritime Prefecture of the Mediterranean takes into account “the problems of possible penetrations on the perimeter of the race whether in the air, at water level or under water”, specified Cédric Dufoix at World.
But, for this dress rehearsal as for the 2024 Olympic events, she has bet on a peaceful cohabitation between competitors and users of the beach and the sea. Unlike the last three editions of the Olympic Games, she has set out restrictions but no general prohibition.
A vast “red” perimeter reserved for competitors, coaches and the organization and comprising the five navigation areas of the events – three of which are very close to the coast – is prohibited to all boats from July 9 to 16 inclusive, from 8 a.m. at 20 hours.
Closure of beaches disputed
This case notably annoys the Prado Swimmers collective who, associated with other groups of offshore swimmers, deployed banners, near the Olympic site, Saturday July 8 at the end of the morning, to challenge them: “NO TO THE CLOSURE OF BEACHES for Paris 2024 Sailing Olympics in Marseille”, “NO TO SPEED GEAR ON THE BEACHES! MARSEILLE IS NOT A KITEFOIL SPOT! “.
Their action aims to obtain the relocation of the Olympic kitefoil event “to a suitable spot”, Hyères (Var) or the lake of Serre-Ponçon (Hautes-Alpes), so that the people of Marseille “can normally take advantage” of the local beaches. A wish that should remain pious.
“Organizing the Olympics in Marseille requires you to squeeze a little for a few days, admits Cédric Dufoix. For example, the shuttle that we like very much and which runs between the Old Port and Pointe Rouge will not be able to carry out its usual circuit for a few days, and the cruise ships will also be deviated a little, but we use a small 10 % of Marseille beaches, and everyone is starting to integrate these issues which will not last very long”.
No spectator reception structure is planned for this test event, but the crossover of the regattas will however be widely visible from the Kennedy Corniche and the beaches. “We will decide this fall and winter on the reception options for the 12,000 spectators per day with tickets,” promises Cédric Dufoix. For the time being, the options – grandstands, spectator boats at sea… – remain open, but one thing is certain, there will be giant screens to follow the regattas and consultants who will comment on them for the public”.
