They should have been somewhere in the Olympic Village on the Harumi Peninsula, southeast of Tokyo, preparing for the Opening Ceremony or waiting for their events to begin. But the Covid-19 has been there. Aurélie Muller (swimming), Steven Da Costa (karate), Laura Glauser (handball) and Valentin Prades (pentathlon) will have to wait another year to compete in the 2020 Olympics. Without any certainty that they will take place ...
"If we have to wait until Paris, it will be long…"
Aurélie Muller, swimmer
Eliminated from the open water race, swimmer Aurélie Muller, 30, is looking for an Olympic sesame over 1,500 m. “The days before confinement, I was happy with my form and reassured by my time, remembers the Moselle. We were one month away from the French Championships and I was pretty confident about the qualifying times. I took the postponement as an additional opportunity to adapt even better to Fabrice's way of training (Editor's note: Pellerin, his coach since September 2019) and to my change of situation between open water and racing swimming . "
At the end of next week, the young woman and her training comrades will desert the Nice Camille-Muffat basin for a fortnight's vacation. “It's really special,” she notes. Normally we always have an international competition at the end of July with the final preparation, sharpening, etc. It's been the rhythm of our life for ten or fifteen years. You have to adapt. "
Muller will also have to understand a new qualification system put in place by the FFN and which is no longer based only on the French Championships but on periods to achieve the minimums. “This mode allows you to have greater autonomy depending on the objectives and the way in which everyone will manage this unprecedented season,” she observes. Everyone can decide when they want to try to make time. There will no longer be this pressure of D-Day. "
The Habs hope that the IOC and the Organizing Committee will not wait until the last moment to decide on the holding of the Games in the summer of 2021. “The decision must really be taken upstream,” she said. The whole life of the athlete is concerned. For example, sponsors stick to the Olympic calendar. All my contracts end in December 2020 and I have to discuss, renegotiate, without being 100% sure that the Games will be done. "
In a career strewn with hard knocks, the two-time 10 km world champion has always shown an incredible capacity for resilience. Which explains why she is also considering the worst. "I understand that the Japanese no longer want the Olympics," she admits. It's still an interplanetary event that brings people back from all over. But if we have to wait three years until Paris, it will be a long time ... I still keep this possibility in a corner of my head. Those who refuse to think about it might take a big shock. For some, Tokyo is their chance or never. You have to be prepared for everything, that's clear. "
"I'm not torturing my mind with 2021"
Steven Da Costa, karateka
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The appointment was made on August 6 at Nippon Budokan, for the qualifiers for - 67 kg. Karateka Steven Da Costa, 23, should have celebrated his discipline's first appearance on the official Games program.
“I admit that despite the period, I don't think about it too much, blows the 2018 world champion. I dropped out a bit because we hear everything and its opposite and we no longer know what is true. I train as a family (Editor's note: at home, in Meurthe-et-Moselle, with his father and his two brothers) , I will resume my summer preparation. I'm just a little apprehensive about returning to competition, but I'm not torturing my mind with 2021. "
The stake is however enormous for the Habs. Tokyo will perhaps be its only chance to shine on Olympus in a failed sport of Paris 2024. “At the beginning, it was almost a relief that the Olympics were postponed after two big years of fighting every fortnight to qualify in a real obstacle course, he continues. But little by little, it starts to take a long time to train without a goal. "
The Mont-Saint-Martin athlete has no specific schedule on the horizon. "I'm going to make a normal comeback as if I had competitions," he says. But it's still a blur. "
"I will have a twinge of heart at the time of the opening ceremony"
Laura Glauser, handball player
With the postponement of the Games, Laura Glauser, 26, delayed a few hands in her time trial. Victim of a partial rupture of the cruciate ligaments of the left knee in October 2019, the goalkeeper of the French handball team had made the bet to be restored for Japan.
“I will surely have a heartache on Friday when the opening ceremony should have taken place, smiles the new recruit of the Hungarian club Györ after ten years spent in Metz. I was relieved by the postponement, not only for myself but for all the athletes. I still told myself that I would be able to come back even stronger next year. But for me, Games or not, I wanted to resume as soon as possible in the club. "
For a month, the Doubiste and her little family have been adapting to Hungarian life and to the Mecca of the female hand. “Metz was already very professional, but here I keep saying wow , she says. It really is another world. Glauser is closely monitoring the development of the pandemic and its repercussions.
“I listen when we talk about the Games,” she explains. I remain on my guard because the situation can change overnight. In any case, we are lucky not to play our qualification (Editor's note: won after the European title in 2018) . Can you imagine the teams who still have to go through the TQO ( Editor's note: Olympic qualifying tournament) ? In terms of preparation and schedule, it must be even harder… ”
"I don't know what I'll be worth in four years"
Valentin Prades, pentathlete
The peaks of Font-Romeu are a little less exotic than the bay of Tokyo. The pentathlete Valentin Prades, 27, is in training in the Pyrenees before two weeks of vacation and the resumption of training at Insep on August 17. “Finally, it's pretty cool to have this time a little long, philosopher the Cannois, fourth at the Rio Olympics. We can work differently, do additional activities… Normally summer is a period when we are in full swing. Taking a fortnight in August hasn't happened to me since high school! "
The lack of clarity on the next deadlines does not scare the Habs, who already have their qualification in their pocket for a year. “The period without competition is frustrating and the return will be difficult to manage,” he says. But the strength of an athlete is knowing how to adapt. I do not know the date of the resumption but I am quite relaxed. Anyway, since we don't know anything, we might as well take it cool… ”
The 2018 vice-world champion still keeps an eye on the news. "Obviously, I follow it with some concern," he says. As much as I found the postponement welcome, the cancellation would be a big blow especially in my age group, where I have never been so strong. I don't know what I'll be worth in four years. In addition, for the pentathlon, the Games are the only sounding board, the ultimate competition at all levels. Normally there must be 45,000 people in Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo! Afterwards, Games or not, behind closed doors or not, I have no control over anything so I'm not going to waste my energy there. My level of determination remains intact. "