Coincidence of the calendar. But a coincidence that does not deceive. Less than 500 days before the Paris 2024 Games (D – 438 this Monday, May 15), the French sports movement is turning abroad. It opens internationally. With, at the head of the procession, the president of the national Olympic committee (CNOSF), Brigitte Henriques (photo above).
At the end of last month, she made the long journey to Queensland to sign a partnership agreement with the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC). Last week, she opened the annual seminar of the Association of European Olympic Committees (EOC), organized for the first time in Paris, with a welcome speech.
Brigitte Henriques answered questions from FrancsJeux.
FrancsJeux : What strategy does the signing last month of a partnership agreement with the Australian Olympic Committee relate to?
Brigitte Henriques : The international influence of the CNOSF is integrated into our global program, put in place since my election as president in June 2021. It is one of the six pillars. We want to play a major role internationally, to be present, to have influence and to be consistent. Eight years after Paris, Brisbane will organize the Summer Games in 2032. The agreement signed last month is part of a common Olympic approach: the preparation of the event, its organization, the legacy, but also the importance of to obtain the best possible sporting results. Our partnership also includes a training component. And it of course integrates sustainable development requirements. With my Australian colleagues, I talked about all the work undertaken to make the Seine suitable for swimming again. In Brisbane, they have an identical ambition for the river which crosses the city.
Will this partnership agreement be followed by others?
We have already signed some with Canada, Italy and the Balkans. The next two will be concluded with Germany and Denmark.
Before Brisbane, the Summer Games will stop in Los Angeles in 2028. Are you going to team up with the American Olympic and Paralympic Committee, the USOPC, as you have just done with the AOC for Australia?
We are in discussions with the USOPC. Things are underway. With, on both sides, a real desire to succeed.
Last weekend, Paris hosted the annual seminar of the Association of European Olympic Committees (EOC). What message did you send to your counterparts on the continent?
This seminar was the first organized in Paris, the first in history hosted by the CNOSF. I opened the meeting by expressing to my colleagues from the European Olympic committees my pride in receiving them and the honor given to France for holding this meeting. With less than 500 days until the Paris 2024 Games, it was also an ideal opportunity to demonstrate our ambition to play a major role at the international level. I have just been appointed to the ANOC Events Commission, after being chosen by the IOC to sit on its Commission for Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. But I'm not the only one. The French Olympic movement has many leaders who wish to join international bodies.
The EOC is at the origin of the creation of the European Games, the third edition of which is to be held in June in Poland. Is this an event that you are watching very closely?
Of course. I look at him and support him. The European Games are often a step, for athletes but also for certain sports or disciplines, on the road to the Olympic Games. We have released a budget to set up a Club France this year in Poland, where we will receive our colleagues from the national Olympic committees and international federations.
Could France be a candidate for their organization?
As you know, French regions are interested in the Winter Games. But we have not yet determined a date. For the European Games, the EOC knows that we would have the capacity. We have not been formally asked to apply, but nothing is ruled out.
Would you say that France is today more influential than ever in the international sports movement?
At mid-term, I would say that the objective set in terms of international strategy has already been almost achieved. We are changing dimensions, that’s for sure. We start to weigh very heavily. The creation in 2021 of the French Touch Sport is another illustration of this. A lot of things are moving forward. The election of Martin Fourcade, in February 2022, to the IOC Athletes' Commission, is another example. He is determined to become a real actor.
What role does the CNOSF play in this international influence?
The role of leader. We support the ambitions of French leaders who demonstrate international ambition, with a two-year program. We created, with the government, the circle of High Potential Internationals (HPI). Over the next two years, we will sign new agreements with foreign national Olympic committees. And we have planned a space dedicated to the EOC at Club France, in La Villette, during the Paris 2024 Games.
During your recent trip to Oceania, you also stopped in New Caledonia and Tahiti. With what objectives?
The first was to see if Tahiti and New Caledonia could serve as rear bases for France, but also other countries, for the Olympic Games after Paris 2024. Tahiti could be for Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032, the New Caledonia for Brisbane 2032. In Tahiti, I met the stakeholders of the surf site for the Paris 2024 Games, discussed with them their totally sustainable approach, without new construction, even for team accommodation. French Polynesia will organize the Pacific Games in 2027, for which we will strengthen collaboration between the CNOSF and the Olympic Committee of French Polynesia. We will create next year, at the CNOSF, a commission for overseas territories, the first of its kind. It will be launched during the Paris 2024 Games. Finally, I took advantage of my meeting with Robin Mitchell, the president of ANOC, to officially ask him that Polynesia, New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna be integrated separately. membership of the Association of Oceanic National Olympic Committees (ONOC). The process is underway. We will have an answer next year.
