Paris 2024: 100 days before the Olympic Games, how are athletes preparing for the home stretch?
The home stretch is underway. 100 days before the Paris Games, French athletes must balance between the qualification objective and the final axis of Olympic preparation. Depending on the disciplines and calendars, the last sprint can look very different. Already qualified, the 2022 Laser world champion (sailing), Jean-Baptiste Bernaz wants to complete his preparation with a single slogan : “the attack”. “The idea is really to push the limits. We try to progress until the end. Once the World Cup is over in April, we’re going to camp in Marseille to get as much information as possible during the three months before the Olympics. This will conclude our preparation”, testifies he who does not want “feel no regrets”.
Same story with Julien Bontemps, coach of the French windsurfing team. “We must remain focused on the areas of work that we still have to carry out, be well aware of our strengths and weaknesses and be focused on the Olympic fleet, which will not be the same as that of the world championships “, he insists.
Already having their ticket in their pocket allows athletes to focus their preparation on the Games, and not on qualification. “An advantage”, assures kayaker Camille Prigent, qualified in slalom and cross-country. “This allowed us to establish a specific preparation. We try to optimize to continue to progress as much as possible until the deadline, before having a little moment of rest and starting the final preparation in July,” she explains.
This specific preparation also involves managing the different training phases, without needing to rush the arrival of results. “At times, it’s quite hard to accept that I don’t have good feelings on the water because, in fact, we work a lot on my body, but I know that it will pay off in a few months”assures Camille Prigent.
In the same way, managing peak form is an essential parameter to anticipate for athletes who have yet to seek their qualification. Pentathlete Elodie Clouvel currently has to manage her schedule, between the first World Cups, which follow one another this spring, and after, if there is qualification.
