Every day in T’O Jeux, Théo Curin brings us the Paris 2024 Olympic Games through the eyes of a guest, a player in the event. Sunday, August 11: Charles Rozoy, Paralympic champion in the 100m butterfly in London in 2012 and swimming consultant for France Télévisions.
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While the Olympic Games end on Sunday, August 11, the party and fervor will resume on August 28 for the Paralympic Games until September 8. Charles Rozoy, Paralympic champion in the 100m butterfly in London in 2012, will have a front row seat to watch the show as he will commentate on the swimming events alongside Alexandre Boyon for France Télévisions.
A job he has been preparing for some time. “I try to look at what the athletes have become, what their results are from last year. And above all, I watch the competitions currently to see the expertise of all the commentators, Camille Lacourt. I don’t plan on wearing a dress though.”
This is the first time that the Paralympic Games will have such a large scale, with all the events being captured and with over 300 hours of live coverage. 100% of the competitions will be rebroadcast on the France Télévisions platform. “We can’t say that we didn’t do something crazy and that the party won’t continue, said Charles Rozoy. Now what we need is for everyone to come together fully, to fill the stadiums and put the same energy. The seats are accessible, so come!”
Charles Rozoy particularly shone at the London Games in 2012 with his Olympic title. London is also a reference for the Paralympics since almost all the competition sites were full and he hopes to see such fervor again in Paris. “The fervor of the French, and that of foreigners who come to Paris, to experience this moment, we must manage to maintain them, explains Charles Rozoy. You just have to have a will, there are plenty of competitions in the evening, there are schools that will be there to come in, to fill up, to come and see and to educate. I think that the French population supports the French athletes.”
“Playing the games in France is something exceptional. It’s really hard to see that and think that we’re not there.”
Charles Rozoyto franceinfo
One of the difficulties for the general public at the Paralympic Games is understanding the different categories in which athletes are classified. They range from S1, for the most severe physical disabilities, to S10, for the lightest. However, Charles Rozoy assures that we should not think too much about these categories. “We have to tell ourselves that the first one to arrive has won and that he is on an equal footing with the other. Of course, there will be lots of questions, because as soon as there is a category, there is necessarily a top, there is a bottom, that’s what is a little difficult to understand, he explains. And then we wonder why there’s a guy who only has one short arm with a guy who has two legs missing. It’s because in that category and in that race, the doctors, the swimming specialists, people who are trained in that, normally, said that that’s where he should be.”
The French swimming delegation will be made up of 14 swimmers. Charles Rozoy gives some names to watch in particular: “We have our great champions, like Kyllian Portal and Ugo Didier. We also have Emeline Pierre who is a great champion that we have already seen several times in competitions. Finally, we have champions who have been there and who have shone a very long time ago, like David Smétanine, who is keen to make France shine.”