After Paris-2024, France will host the Olympic Games again in 2030 for the winter version. The Savoie and Mont-Blanc committees already have an eye on this deadline.
How is the 2030 generation preparing? “We are right in the middle of it,” says Fabienne Dheyriat, general director of the Comité de Savoie. “These are the young people of today, even if the age categories differ according to the disciplines: a Steven Amiez, 26 years old, in alpine skiing or a Romain Allemand, 17 years old, in freestyle snowboarding are among these skiers who “We should see the Olympics in 2030.”
On the Mont-Blanc side, Philippe Blanc-Gonnet, director of the committee is also planning. “We are trying to produce champions for 2030. On the committee we have young people from 16 years old, 20 years old, they are on time for 2030, that’s what motivates everyone. We have this objective. » He mentions mogul skiing, with for the first time this year a coach dedicated to the discipline, or the skicross group which welcomes skiers from Savoie or the Southern Alps for better emulation. “And we have numbers that continue to increase in biathlon and Nordic skiing,” he says. Note that in biathlon, 6 of the 7 athletes on the French women’s team come from Savoie and Haute-Savoie.
Blanc-Gonnet: “Physical preparation must be integrated into our thinking”
To prepare well, the two committees also emphasize physical preparation, which is taking on an increasingly important role. “We are working better and better on this aspect,” judges Fabienne Dheyriat, who for a year has been able to count on a sports hall within the committee’s headquarters, “the base camp” in Albertville. “We work with the sports-studies colleges, we have a coordinator, we set up training on physical preparation at club level, so that everyone has the same message, the same instructions. » “Physical preparation must be integrated into our thinking,” confirms Patrice Blanc-Gonnet. “We hire physical trainers to supervise young people, this is an important aspect, especially in the summer. We also work with the Mont Blanc high school, which has a dedicated space. We ski less on glaciers than before, we ski off-beat, we are lucky to be able to count on slopes at La Clusaz in May, for example, so in the summer we are more likely to be physically prepared. »
Dheyriat: “The budget? We are still ric-rac”
There remains the question of the budget and the difficulties in finding adequate funding. “We are still ric-rac,” says Fabienne Dheyriat. “We always ask more from parents or clubs, but we can’t ask them everything either. We need to find partners, private sponsors to try to reduce families’ share as much as possible. » Patrice Blanc-Gonnet continues: “The high level is expensive, travel, packages, supervision. We need additional resources. There should be a performance unit, as there was for Paris-2024. We are asking for resources, we do not yet have them. But it may be a little early because there is no Cojop yet. But it is important to capitalize and help a new generation. » The 2030 horizon opens up new perspectives.
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