At the Marina of Marseilles,
The sun is beating down and the wind is already blowing just as much on the new Marseille Marina, on this first day of training for the sailing “test event”, a big rehearsal just over a year before the start of the Olympic Games. Paris 2024. Everything is not yet perfectly ready this Friday, protective barriers surround the last buildings being finalized, but the essentials are in place to welcome the 350 athletes from 60 countries expected for the competition, which begins on Sunday.
The press building sits at the entrance, followed by all the others, such as hangars, changing rooms, necessary for the ten disciplines that will take place on the Marina: women’s and men’s foil windsurfing (IQFoil), double dinghy ( 49er) women and men, the solo dinghy women (Laser Radial ILCA 6) and men (Laser Radial ILCA 7), the kiteboard (formula kite) women and men, the mixed double foil catamaran and the mixed double dinghy (470).
“The objective of this test-event is to train the organizing teams and to test the sporting, medical, technical and technological aspects”, summarized Cédric Dufoix, site manager for Marseille and Nice for Paris 2024, during a press conference.
“Very good infrastructure”
On land, volunteers from the reception center distribute the first equipment, water bottle, cap and windbreaker, while on the other side, others offer the first meals to the athletes. A little further on, some are preparing their machines for the start of training in the shade of buildings, or full sun, a few centimeters from the water, for others under the eyes of workers finishing the last works. .
The French Lara Granier and Amélie Riou hoist the sails of their 49er dinghy before setting off on the body of water, which they know well. “I have been in Marseille for 8 years, the infrastructure has really changed the situation. The France pole has been set up for a few months, we have everything perfect as we wanted. We have the hangars in which we can fit the boats entirely with the sails, the weight room, the recovery rooms, the meeting rooms. It’s really perfect for training. We have just discovered the buildings finished for the Olympic Games, it looks perfect, very beautiful infrastructure, ”savors Lara Granier.
At sea, the first athletes discover an exceptional body of water, divided into four zones according to the disciplines. La Bonne Mère watches as the 49ers approach the Chateau d’If from close quarters, while the boarder kites try not to be dazzled by the glistening white of the Stade Vélodrome in the distance. A rather striking spectacle, even though these are only the training sessions. It promises to be particularly grandiose from this Sunday. A great taste of what awaits Marseille next summer.