A shock and pain commensurate with the efforts made over many years to achieve the holy grail of participation in the Olympic Games. Lucas Corvée and Ronan Labar find themselves second French pair in men's doubles behind the Popov brothers in the Olympic race (race) published on Tuesday, and therefore excluded from the Paris Olympics, while they had finished in first place at the end of the European Championships finished this Sunday.
A downgrade due, undoubtedly, to a calculation error by the International Federation. An incomprehensible scenario.
After the amazement and the “emotional explosion” at the time of the publication of this new ranking, Lucas Corvée, licensed at Issy-les-Moulineaux, wants to be combative to still hope to participate with Ronan Labar in the men's doubles at the Paris Olympics.
How are you ?
LUCAS CORVÉE.
Wednesday I was in shock. It was hard to imagine that what was happening was real. It's been a week since we were officially announced as qualified for the Olympics. The new ranking on Wednesday was very hard to digest. Since yesterday (Thursday), we have been trying to fight and see what we can do on our side to hold the BWF (international federation) accountable but we have not heard back. We would like to have an explanation from them. From an emotional point of view, this is violent news. I was only waiting for one thing, to be able to celebrate my qualification for the Olympics with my family, to join them because I have hardly seen them all year. It's a long-standing dream with my family who has been with me since I was little.
What were your actions?
We informed all the authorities who were not all aware (Cojo, CIO, etc.) and tried to obtain support from them. We are also trying to see the legal actions that we can take but this is only the beginning and it is difficult to know what will happen afterwards. We are talking with a lawyer… The federation supports us and sees for its part what it can do. We have contacted the player representatives at the BWF. They have been pushing for an answer but there is nothing at the moment. It's radio silence. They take time to react.
Have you contacted Christo and Toma Junior Popov?
No, we have had no exchanges with them. The situation is complicated. It's difficult to know what will happen in the coming weeks but we've been fighting for 3 years to get a ticket for the Olympics. We thought we had it, we no longer have it so we will continue to fight to go to the end.
Given this turn of events, are you disgusted with your sport?
No. But the error is incredible and scandalous. The timing is catastrophic. This is what everyone in the bad and sports world feels. Injustices in sport exist and it is us who are the victims of this injustice. We will hold the BWF accountable. We will see how they justify their error. We don't have time to lament our fate, we must move forward. We don't even know if these people realize the harm this causes for us. This error remained in the ranking for 11 months. Many players had more points: this modified the ranking, tournament entries, seeds, strategies of each player...
Is it possible to qualify with the Popov brothers for the Olympics?
Many people consider this option. This is something that would help the world of badminton, from the international federation to the players, thinking through the national federations. But it's difficult to have hope on that because it's not our responsibility and it's never happened to have 17 players in doubles. However, there is some hope because players have benefited from wild cards in the past. It is the IOC that will ultimately have the power to add athletes to sports or not. This may be a possible outcome but it is difficult to pin all our hopes on it.