And suddenly, the Insep comes back to life. This Monday, under a magnificent sun, judokas and judokates had the scoop to be able to reinvest this essential place of French sport, only left in the expert hands of the maintenance and renovation staff since March 17, date of the start of confinement. And not surprisingly, the smiles, radiant, were there. Even if the program, exclusively organized outdoors, was not a sinecure with a physical session as essential as feared by many athletes. Especially after two months of training alone in a more or less appropriate place depending on the surface area of each accommodation, even if the connection between athletes and technical staff will have remained permanent during confinement.
“I have never been so happy to return to Insep. By dint of being locked up alone, I was starting to become unsocial ”
Amandine Buchard“I have never been so happy to return to Insep, confided Amandine Buchard, double world bronze medalist in 2014 and 2018. By dint of being locked up alone, I was starting to become unsocial. Especially since I thought we would stay confined until early June, so I'm happy to see people again now. Afterwards, physically, I feel that it is hard even if I feared that it would be even worse. Doing cardio at home is sometimes difficult to motivate yourself. So I was really afraid of this session and of being very far from my usual level. But it was, I am happy and relieved. And then resuming physical training brings us closer, somewhere, to a resumption of judo training. ”
»READ ALSO - Insep reopens its doors and revives the Olympic dynamic
A reunion marked also by a few small pikes dropped with kindness. Like that of national technical director Stéphane Traineau bringing together the men's team for a quick briefing, which he started like this: “You are all part of the Olympic team but for some of you, it will now be in the (weight) category. ) above." A way of pointing the finger at the slightly thickened silhouettes of some even if, overall, the state of physical fitness of the troops appeared satisfactory in the eyes of the staff.
Fights against mannequins
A return to training based on a complete medical assessment as well as on the concept of volunteering, as Cyrille Maret, Olympic bronze medalist in Rio in 2016 explained. “Today, nothing forced us to start again. It was done on everyone's desire and will. If some prefer to wait before coming back to the carpet, this is completely legitimate. As far as I am concerned, I am more afraid of transmitting this virus to my loved ones than for myself, even if I have seen top athletes or young people aged 24-25 ending up in intensive care. I don't minimize the risk at all. But that does not prevent me from fearing more for my father, who has a little diabetes, than for me. So, I'm going to avoid certain family moments. ”
On the other hand, it is impossible for them to predict when they will be able to put on the kimono again and really do judo, and not just physical. "We will find solutions with models," said Larbi Benboudaoud, responsible for training girls. INSEP will do whatever is necessary to provide us with additional equipment. And then, it will be up to us, members of the staff, to put all this to music, knowing that we will not happen whatever happens in an ideal situation. As for the resumption of competitions, the International Federation is targeting September, without the slightest certainty. ”
Riner again at home "for a little week"
Note that this recovery in joy and good humor took place without the two headliners of the discipline in France, namely Clarisse Agbegnenou - who remained training in her place of confinement on the island of Reunion - and Teddy Riner, about whom his trainer Franck Chambily confided: “Teddy is still at home for a little week because he had small things to settle on a personal level. But he trains in his weight room and his small personal dojo. He is working hard and he will come back in a few days. ” His partners did not wait for him to taste again the happiness of training "at home, at Insep". Their second home that came back to life on May 18.
Read also
- Maracineanu welcomes "the gradual reopening of Insep"
