After the Hamas attacks of October 7, Israeli athletes are gradually returning to training or competition. A daily life now punctuated by conflict, reinforced security measures and warning sirens.
“It has become routine, the conflict is established over time.” This is how Renaud Longuèvre sums up the daily life of his athletes. Since October 7 and the war between Hamas and Israel, the French director of high performance of the Israeli Athletics Federation has seen sports sessions interrupted by rocket alerts: “When that happens, they go into the dugouts right in the middle of practice.”
Currently in France, having returned just before the start of the war, he has not returned since. Renaud Longuèvre remains in permanent contact with athletes and coaches: “The first two weeks, there was the traumatic shock of the attacks which was very significant,” he confides.
“There are athletes who have died. For example, a runner who was known to the community. It was quite an emotionally charged moment.”
Renaud Longuèvreat franceinfo
The Israeli Olympic Committee published on its Facebook page photos of several high-level athletes who died in the conflict. But yet, life goes on: “Just after the attack, the athletes ensured continuity of training individually, a bit like during Covid, and then at the sports center in Netanya for some”, explains the director. Then little by little, the stadiums and infrastructures reopened. “There were lists by level, the best athletes had priority access, earlier”adds the director.
If the stage of Beer-Sheva, about twenty kilometers from the Gaza Strip bombarded daily by the Israeli army, remains completely closed, those in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv are now open. Despite the fact that these are not “optimal conditions”Renaud Longuèvre explains that the return of his athletes to training does them good, “being able to play sports, train and ensure continuity. They return to daily benchmarks.”
Get back mentally into the competition
French basketball player Jaylen Hoard, who plays for the Hapoel Tel-Aviv club, has the same feeling: “We had a little moment of adjustment when the conflict started because we had to cancel matches, we didn’t play for two weeks. We had to get back into rhythm, but past this point , we got into it well”, explains the professional player.
“We’re lucky to still be able to play basketball. It makes the situation a little easier to live with.”
Jaylen Hoardat franceinfo
During the attack carried out by Hamas members on October 7, he was in Tel Aviv. He remembers the sirens waking him up, but it’s the mountain of messages he receives on Saturday morning that alerts him. He details the days following the attack: “The next day, we all went to the gym, the whole team gathered around the central circle and they explained the situation to us, knowing where we were going to train and to reassure us…They told us that what was happening was sad, but that we couldn’t necessarily help and that they were going to do everything so that we could play in good conditions.” After this meeting, the club arranged flights for foreign players to Greece, pending the club’s return to competition.
Travel from hotel to hotel
However, daily life begins to weigh on the young basketball player. The regular season could not start, but his club is currently playing in the Eurocup. “All matches are away, even those that were supposed to be at home. The League hopes to resume national competition before the end of November, but we are sure of nothing for the moment.”
The only certainty: the change of pace imposed by the conflict: “Instead of training all week in Tel Aviv in Israel and then traveling two or three days for a match, in the end, we spend about a week, or even ten days in a city abroad to prepare the match. We live in hotels, we train outside all the time”, explains Jaylen Hoard.
“It’s been more than a month since I’ve been able to go back to see my friends in Tel Aviv. I have my life there and I’m starting to miss it.”
Jaylen Hoardat franceinfo
A difficult situation for those who have families, but also for players who no longer really have a fixed base: “J‘I was talking about it a little with my parents recently, I said it was starting to get old.” Since the beginning of October, “little things” athletes miss every day, “L’apartment”, “friends”, even “the sun !”, smiles the basketball player, arriving on site in 2022.
Israeli athletes, like basketball players, “hold on”, says Renaud Longuèvre, “These are people who are already resilient. They grew up there with parents who fought in the Lebanese war, or whatever,” specifies the director.
“Local athletes do not have at all the same relationship to this type of situation, to war, as we do.”
Renaud Longuèvreat franceinfo
In football, the national championship has not resumed. The teams organize friendly matches, all preceded by minutes of silence and most played behind closed doors. On the other hand, some teams compete in the Europa Conference League. This is the case for example of Maccabi Tel-Aviv, in which Yvann Maçon plays, a player on loan from AS Saint-Étienne. The club indicates that “the player was brought to safety in Greece just after the attacks. He then went to Paris, then to Guadeloupe, where he is from.” A break to recover from the trauma, before returning to competition. “The club is currently training in Poland. The country allows them to stay for the duration of the competition”indicates ASSE.
For its part, the Israeli athletics federation says it has organized meetings with psychologists to “coping with situations of pressure and uncertainty, especially during this period”. The European Athletics Association sent a letter to the Israeli federation to provide support and offer help.
Delicate balance between sport and demands
The days are also punctuated by activities related to the conflict. Some football clubs organize meetings with rrefugees from the south and north of Israel, banners “Bring them home”, in reference to the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas and held in Gaza, are displayed during the matches. Maccabi Tel Aviv, in fact, published before leaving for Poland: “Maccabi players arrived at Bloomfield Stadium wearing jerseys that said ‘Bring Them Home’.” On most Israeli sports club Facebook accounts, political posts have taken precedence over match photos or strictly sports information.
On the ground, too, political and religious demands are making a place. Basketball player Jaylen Hoard explains that several members of the staff come to practices or matches with T-shirts flocked with messages. “During a match (against Italian club Venezia), we could mark on our shoes or our wristbands the names of young Israelis who were killed. Many teammates have done it. “It’s important to them,” explains the player, before specifying that the club left the choice to each player to participate or not in the operation. As is often the case, the conflict imposed itself on the heart of the club: “One of my teammates has a lot of friends who went to war. We have our community manager who went to the front. Young people from the academy died after being attacked,” explains Jaylen Hoard.
Athlete safety at stake
So what about the safety of Israeli professional athletes? Often required to travel abroad as part of competitions, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu believes that they are more than ever the targets of potential attacks. Furthermore, in Israel, military service is compulsory between the ages of 18 and 21: all the athletes in Renaud Longuèvre’s care are therefore military personnel. The preparation of athletes for the Paris Olympic Games could thus be complicated by new government directives.
“The high command does not want them to leave the country for training or competitions because they could be targets, given the context.”
Renaud Longuèvreat franceinfo
The few outings that could be done are also more expensive to organize. The government passed a text demanding more security guarantees for all training courses, whereas before only international competitions were concerned. It is therefore necessary to have the teams accompanied by security agents. Additional constraints:They ask us for a lot more security personnel for the slightest trip. However, they pay salaries, but not hotels or plane tickets. And that risks hindering preparation.”
However, Renaud Longuèvre is not worried about the sporting performances of his athletes: “We are not in a crucial period before the Olympics either, we still have time. In October, it is what we call the recovery phase then the development cycle in November, but there is no “There’s nothing prohibitive. In athletics, you can build a very good level of performance with six months of preparation.” concludes the high performance director of the Israel Athletics Federation.