Ignition delay. In the world before, the Tokyo Games should have given the starting signal, for French communities, of the race to welcome foreign teams and delegations before the Paris 2024 Games.
But the health crisis has muddied the waters. She shortened the Olympiad by a year. Certainly, the catalog of potential Games Preparation Centers (CPJ) has been completed by the OCOG. It lists 415 territories and 620 rear bases (750 communities had applied). The offer is now available. But the candidates are deprived of the opportunity to meet, during the Tokyo Games, representatives of national Olympic committees from around the world.
The timing is off. But what about strategies? FrancsJeux questioned an expert, Jérémy Botton, the general director of the Spartner agency.
FrancsJeux : Have the postponement of the Tokyo Games for one year and the ban on entry into Japan of non-accredited foreigners disrupted the strategy of the candidate cities and territories to be CPJ at the Paris 2024 Games?
Jérémy Botton : Partly, yes. The Olympiad was shortened by one year. The Tokyo Games should have been an opportunity for candidates to present themselves, meet the DTNs or representatives of foreign national committees, and try to convince. But this approach strategy is no longer possible due to the restrictions imposed by the Japanese. Strategies are turned upside down. The Tokyo Games were so special in their preparation that all the attention of foreign countries was focused on this event, at a time when they should have already been preparing for the Paris 2024 Games.
Should candidate communities review their copy?
Above all, they must ask themselves the right questions: what is our positioning, what do we want to do, how to adapt our offer to our ambitions and our equipment. An application to be a CPJ must be part of the territory’s project. It must make sense. Above all, it must take into account the notion of inheritance. A foreign team that comes to train somewhere, then leaves without leaving anything behind, brings nothing to a city or town. His presence must be accompanied by a worked and thoughtful project. For a territory, succeeding in the Paris 2024 Games does not necessarily mean being chosen as CPJ. There are plenty of other ways to take part in the adventure.
The catalog proposed by Paris 2024 lists 415 territories. The competition looks set to be tough...
She will be. For the London Games, two thirds of the candidates for hosting foreign teams or delegations received nothing at all. With such an offer, it is important for communities to target their project and get support to achieve their objective.
Has the health crisis discouraged certain candidates?
No. The Olympic Games remain very attractive and the mobilization continues. But the territories have shifted their priorities. Paris 2024 has been put on the back burner, but communities are waking up. A lot will happen, in this campaign to be CPJ, in the second half of 2021 and throughout 2022.
Does the experience of the Tokyo Games not risk discouraging certain countries or sports federations from coming to prepare in France before the Paris 2024 Games?
I do not believe. We are convinced that athletes and teams will have to come and prepare in France, from 2022 and 2023.
Do communities still want to be part of the adventure of the Paris 2024 Games?
Yes. The impatience is still the same, it has just been delayed by a year. The firing window is narrower, but the COJO Paris 2024 is doing a great job of mobilizing and engaging the entire territory. The desire is still strong. And it will continue to grow.
