Tony Estanguet, président du Cojo et Carole Delga, présidente de la Région Occitanie, ont parlé sport à bâtons rompus ce jeudi. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON
The chef's surprise. Guest of honor, this Thursday noon, at the last plenary assembly of the Occitanie Regional Council organized at the Parc des Expositions in Pérols, Tony Estanguet was warmly applauded, six months after the apotheosis of the Paris 2024 Games. The opportunity for the president of the Cojo and the president Carole Delga to talk about sport at random, in particular on the subject of the legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the region.
Occitanie's success at the Olympic Games
With nearly 30% of French medals (64 including 16 gold) won by athletes from Occitanie, the Region stands out as the big winner of the Olympic Games.
Carole Delga: We are convinced that we are in a society where we must create moments of gathering. We must also have activities that allow us to respect each other in our diversity. And that is the value of sport, because sport brings people together. It also allows us to see that the difference of others is an asset. In a team, or even in individual sport, when we coach, we know how to value our own talent. But beyond these subjects, diversity, the strength of a collective, sport also demonstrates an ability to transcend itself.
Today, for political reasons, the French people have many doubts. However, through sport, we find unsuspected resources within ourselves. Many challenges await us in the coming months, it is important to have self-confidence, to tell ourselves that through work and the collective, we can overcome the challenges.
That is to say, we invested in sport so that there would be popular education allowing everyone to express their talents. And then, let's be clear, to have economic benefits. For example, we had 2,700 athletes representing 62 countries who prepared in Occitanie. That's why we fought hard for the Rugby World Cup, in order to welcome prestigious teams, because we know very well that afterwards there is consumption on site.
So, through the 2,700 athletes who trained in different clubs or facilities, there are benefits. I also have a lot of companies that are in the sports field. So this encourages them to settle in Occitanie, when I am in competition with other regions, very concretely with foreign investors.
Concerning the Asics company, I went to Japan to convince them not to set up in Barcelona or Marseille but in Occitanie. That's how we got the Asics logistics platform and we are working with them on the Creps in Font-Romeu. It is very important to have players who are strongly and long-term committed to getting medals. A medal at the Games is the culmination of ten to fifteen years of training. This sporting culture cannot develop overnight.
So, it is important to have a sustainable strategy around sport. In Occitanie, there has been this vision around sport for a long time. On a national scale, there are still regions that are driving forces in terms of sports development. As President of the Region, I attended both opening ceremonies. I wanted to be there because I did not want people to say that there was a hierarchy in the two ceremonies. Sport allows us to live better together.
Memories of the Games
Tony Estanguet: I do not answer this kind of question, it is too hard. It is so reductive for me to isolate a strong moment. There were so many before, during, after… Every day, we were amazed. Between the Grand Palais, the Eiffel Tower, Versailles, the ceremonies, the Stade de France, Léon Marchand at the swimming pool… It was crazy! The images were all more beautiful than the last. Honestly, I was on cloud nine. After working on this project for ten years, I didn't imagine how much the alchemy would take. It's true that there was a very strong turning point at the opening ceremony.
We felt that something was happening in France. The very next day, at the Stade de France, rugby 7s won gold and there, we felt that we were unstoppable, that the French were taking the Games to a scale never seen before. We broke audience records all over the world (5 billion viewers), France shone in an exceptional way.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000I think we owe it to the French. It's important to be square on the organization, because otherwise, we only talk about the hiccups and there were no hiccups. That was a real challenge. But the little extra soul, beyond the exceptional sites and the audacity, was the atmosphere, this spirit of celebration, of conviviality, of unity. At one point, the French said: “This belongs to us. We welcome the world, we're going to show that we're capable of anything.”
Carole Delga: I found that the real challenge was to do it in Paris, by marrying heritage and sport. It was thrilling. We were in the rain for the inaugural ceremony and when we saw the rider riding on the Seine, it was a moment of pure magic that we owe to the artistic genius and the strength of the values of Olympism.
My second thrill was during the Paralympic delegation parade. With Kamel Chibli (Deputy for Sports), we cried. You see athletes who have been marked by life. Even talking about it (she has tears in her eyes)… We used up a packet of Kleenex, it was magnificent to see that amputees or transformed bodies were absolutely beautiful and radiant. The handicap was overcome by the power of sport and Olympic values. We were overwhelmed by this ceremony, we didn't know where we were.
Legacy of the Paralympic Games
Carole Delga: Of the 140 million that we have spent on sports facilities over the past eight years, many have taken into account a very significant improvement in access for people with disabilities. For us, the accessibility of places is fundamental. It is a very strong condition for assistance. In the same way that we want accessibility in all high schools. This is not exhaustive because in some disciplines, it is technically impossible. But we must be clear: for us, it is a major condition for inclusion.
Tony Estanguet:There has been an opening to more tolerance, a change in the way we look at disability on a more inclusive model. For me, this is the major legacy of the Paralympics. We have succeeded in making the French discover what Paralympism is and the respect we owe to these exceptional athletes as well as to all people with disabilities who remain discriminated against in access to housing, transport, work…
The first challenge was to provide visibility and ambition with the same competition sites. But be careful, it is not an event that will transform society overnight. Our responsibility as organizers was to successfully organize the Paralympic Games by trying to show the best side of the Paralympic Games. Then, it is up to others to perpetuate the legacy.
Carole Delga: We must continue to invest in sport and not rest on our laurels. We have achieved the unimaginable, so we must maintain the level of excellence. The Olympic Games are prepared more than ten years in advance. That is to say, we must even invest in small clubs because that is where the gems are found. It is a long-term job and, in politics, you have to have this vision that goes beyond the mandate.
Future of sport in the next two decades
Tony Estanguet:I keep an optimistic outlook. For ten years, people have been telling me that we won't succeed in these Games, that France is not capable, that it is very complicated in sport, that we won't win medals… This somewhat declining and pessimistic outlook has been around for a long time. And yet, when we get involved, when we commit, we see that there are great players in this country who believe, who fight, who invest, who do exceptional things.
So, we have to stay optimistic. But it's not because we succeeded in the Games that sport will necessarily develop on its own in the next ten years. We can immediately break this preconceived idea because there is no automatic legacy effect. I think it started a momentum.
The legacy must be taken care of by businesses, the sports movement, federations, local authorities and the State, which must continue to invest in sport if we want it to continue to develop. If we shone this summer, it means we know how to do it.
The role of the organizing committee was to balance the budget. It is still 4.5 billion of private money that allowed the budget to be balanced and a small surplus of 27 million euros to be left, which is the nice surprise at the end of the Games. When the dissolution of the organizing committee is announced in six months, it will be necessary to decide how to use this money. It is written in the statutes that this money must be used exclusively to develop sport. Obviously, we want the spirit of Paris 2024 to continue. We must continue to invest to really transform the trial.
A political destiny ?
Tony Estanguet: I have already spoken on the subject. I believe that we should not think that political actors will solve all the problems. Many issues are also brought up by civil society and I felt that after the Games my place was for the moment in this civil society, in the sports movement. I have the impression that this is where I have the most to contribute in light of what I have learned, my professional experiences. I want to continue to invest myself in this path, without committing to a political career.
I have a lot of respect for those who get involved, because it takes courage and it takes strong people in politics. But they cannot succeed alone. That is why today I believe that I am more effective where I am rather than within a government. As soon as the Prime Minister (Michel Barnier) was appointed, I said that I would not be part of the government. I made a commitment to myself to take a rest. So, I will take a few weeks off. After that, we will see what life has in store.
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