While athletics was expected to shine at the Tokyo Olympics (postponed from July 23 to August 8, 2021 due to the Covid crisis), the 2020 season resumes timidly. But the Herculis meeting intends to give a boost to the middle: "World athletics is restarting", enthuses Jean-Pierre Schoebel, organizer of the meeting. Since 2010, the competition has been part of the Diamond League, an event bringing together 14 meetings, usually from May to September, five of which have been canceled this season.
Because until now, fans of the discipline have had to content themselves with minor encounters, or the “Impossible Games” and “Inspiration Games” in Oslo and Zurich, original competitions organized remotely. But in Monaco, there is no question of betting on the virtual, "many athletes have checked the Herculis meeting as their main deadline", underlines Rémy Charpentier, head of the Monegasque field.
"Athletics should not have complexes"
“At the time of confinement, we thought about canceling,” explains Jean-Pierre Schoebel. “At the beginning of April, when we saw that football could resume, Formula 1 as well, we said to ourselves that we could too. Athletics should not have any complexes, ”adds Rémy Charpentier.
A series of health and logistical issues then arise. To bring in the best athletes in the world "the key was also the support of the Monegasque government, and the help of France in terms of travel authorizations", assures Rémy Charpentier.
"The organization was easier to manage with the athletes coming from the Schengen area", confirms Jean-Pierre Schoebel. In this logic, the events were defined to ensure that "Europeans can come and compete", recognizes the former international athlete. The Rocher still managed to bring together a beautiful international field of 134 athletes, from the 200m world champion Noah Lyles, to the pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis.
@MeetingHerculis here I come pic.twitter.com/u8KxSBFCZb
- Noah Lyles (@LylesNoah) July 31, 2020Like all sporting events of the moment, the meeting is accompanied by strict health rules. “We had to reinvent athletics, and the management of participants. The athletes are alone in their hotel rooms, when there are usually two of them. If they have to move, everything is done on foot, ”explains the organization.
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And, of course, the tests. “Some athletes do one to enter the territory, then they are tested again 72 hours before the meeting. Plus that necessary for some athletes to return to their country, participants will be tested three or four times, ”list the organizers of the meeting.
Before the meeting, Conseslus Kipruto withdrew due to a positive test for Covid-19. The Olympic champion in the 3000m steeplechase had not yet joined Monaco. As is the French pole vaulter Valentin Lavillenie, whose announcement was made this Friday noon in an Instagram post.
View this post on Instagram
My Covid19 test carried out as part of the protocol for the Herculis EBS 2020 meeting was positive, I am currently asymptomatic. Unfortunately I therefore have to withdraw from tonight's competition at the Louis II stadium. Hoping to be able to find the jumper quickly, I wish all the athletes a nice evening of competition.
A post shared by Valentin Lavillenie (@valentinlavillenie) on Aug 14, 2020 at 1:00 am PDT
Because until the last minute, the meeting can reserve surprises. “It's the final sprint, there! », Loose Rémy Charpentier. “For example, we just had a triple jump withdrawal. An Italian athlete agrees to come as a replacement, all is well, but she cannot find a center to be tested, so she will not be able to come ”, he laments.
The delivery of rewards "against protocol"
Once inside the Louis-II stadium, the athletes will say goodbye to the protocol of the call room, usually located under the stands, this Friday occupied by 5,000 masked spectators. The 134 participants will now have to wait outside. No awarding of rewards either. "It does not make sense to bring someone from outside for the prices, it goes against our protocol", points out Rémy Charpentier.
This organization had to be designed "with a budget cut in half", notes the boss of the meeting, in particular because of the loss of partners, and of TV rights. In France, the Herculis meeting is available on Canal +, but the rest of the broadcast of the Diamond League season promises to be compromised.
RMC, the official broadcaster, did not renew the contract. On the UK side, the BBC reached a last minute deal with the Diamond League organization to broadcast all of the events.
