REPORT. At Bapaume prison, the Paris 2024 Games offer inmates an “escape through sport” and the opportunity to surpass themselves

“I really don’t see anything, is that normal?” With a mask on her face, Naïma* tries to move forward among her fellow inmates. On Thursday, August 8, at the Bapaume detention center (Pas-de-Calais), the Olympics organized in connection with the Paris 2024 Games are putting blind football in the spotlight. After pétanque and table tennis in particular, the eight inmates who came that afternoon are eager to try their hand at this flagship discipline of disabled sport. For the occasion, the male residents of buildings A, B and C have been mixed together, and they will even be able to play alongside the female inmates in the same center.

“We can afford more flexibility with this activity”explains Sébastien, prison guard and sports instructor, very satisfied with the prisoners’ ability to “play the game”. From the entrance to the gymnasium, he keeps a watchful eye on the day’s athletes who are warming up. On the field, the exercises follow one another. Without any visual cues, the inmates must find the path to the ball filled with bells by ear. Then, in pairs masked and unmasked, they guide themselves through the space by guiding the ball. “It’s a good exercise for trust in others, and then everyone is on an equal footing.”analyzes Sébastien, between two pieces of advice thrown out at the top of his voice.

A little tight in his red bib with the “JO Bapaume 2024” logo, Ousmane* is nonetheless one of the best hopes of the day. With his legs well forward or even in a side-step, he moves at good speed on the field and frames most of his shots. “I’ve seen this sport on TV before, so I prepared myself a little.”he admits. Around him, his “colleagues” do not all have the same ease. “Left! No, not that left!”Anna* says to Naïma*. “Did you see us with the mask? We look like Daft Punk!”the other replies, before taking a tight free kick which crashes into a goal post.

Boualem Bensalem, from the C, came especially to lead the blind football workshop.Hauts-de-France regional disabled sports committee, takes the opportunity to talk about disability in everyday life. “Public space is experienced in a completely different way by people with disabilities, who constantly need to adapt”he explains, before answering the numerous questions from the prisoners. Side by side on the ground, some are meeting for the first time. In Bapaume, prisoners are generally locked up for long sentences and most occupy individual cells, where each has their own television.

“I watch all sports, I’ve seen a lot of medals live”says Ousmane. “I’m connected to the Games 24/7.“, adds Fabien*, who particularly highlights the silver medal won by boxer Soufiane Oumiha, “very strong despite the blows from the opposite side”and wonders if “Léon Marchand is not a robot programmed to win.” In the corridors of the prison, the Paris Games are a welcome topic of conversation. “Talking about the results is a change from complaints or gossip about one or the other”smiles Fabien.

Another topic of discussion, the regional Olympics, organized in June between the 17 penitentiary establishments of Hauts-de-France, seem to have been appreciated. “The prisoners were able to train six months before this date, which also allowed them not to miss the Olympics.”explains Olivier Leclercq, sports coordinator of the Interregional Division of Penitentiary Services of Lille. They were thus able “look at the trials with different eyes” And “better realize” of the efforts made by the athletes. “As a legacy of the Games, we intend to repeat this competition every year, or every two years, so that everyone can set sporting goals.”he explains.

In front of the disabled sports instructor who has become a goalkeeper, the prisoners perfect their blind shooting. “Come on Anna, write your story! Become the Mbappé of Bapaume!”Naïma shouts to her friend, who misses the goal by a few meters. On the second attempt, the young woman reaches the skylight to loud applause. “Through sport, we create pride among the prisoners, says Lucie Ferster, in charge of the activities of the entire center. When we have people who tell us: ‘HAS “What’s the point of playing? I’ve never won anything in my life,’ the fact of going all the way through the activity is already a huge reward.”

In Bapaume, the conditions of detention are more favourable than elsewhere. With 540 inmates (men and women) at the beginning of August, for a maximum of 600 places, the prison is far from suffering from the overcrowding that is reaching record levels in France. Among the inmates in the centre, only a minority do daily physical activity. Pointing to her leggings and tight-fitting T-shirt, Lydie* is proud to say that she is one of them. “I come to the gym twice a week, I do the rowing machine, the elliptical trainer, I run…”she lists. In the evening, in her cell, she also does core strengthening sessions and squats, a way of keeping in shape and “clean the head”.

“Without sport, life in prison would be very, very complicated.”

Lydie, detained at the Bapaume center

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According to the supervisors, smoking is permitted, and the consumption of drugs introduced despite strict controls greatly degrades the health of those locked up. “It’s very tempting and easy to stay in your cell and take pills.”confides Fabien, who wouldn’t miss his badminton sessions for anything in the world, his “passion forever”After two decades of smoking, it was in prison that he managed to quit. “Whether it’s now or when we get out, it’s important to get moving, he urges. Reintegration, work, health: if you have the will to do sport, you can achieve anything afterwards.”

“The gym is the only place where I don’t have any bars in my field of vision. It’s almost an escape, but through sport.”

Fabien*, detained at the Bapaume center

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Inside the detention center, “Having a course, sporting objectives, is well seen by everyone, including the supervisors”reveals Fabien, before being called to play the long-awaited match. In mixed teams, the players collide, attempt play actions, knock down a barrier in a great burst of laughter. “With the problems they have here and outside, the prisoners are under a lot of pressure, says Lucie Ferster, posted at the edge of the field. We prefer that they let off steam through sport rather than on someone else, whether a prisoner or a guard.”

As the game noisily continues, Sébastien, the guard with two hats, returns to the importance of physical activity in the prison environment. “It’s a good way to see the true face of the prisoners, by pushing them to their limits during the sessions”he explains. Managing anger, the way others look at you, respecting the rules, self-confidence… Behavior and psychology “are also in the center” of sports practice, he emphasizes. This separate space, where “speech is freer”, also allows us to better understand the atmosphere of the detention center.

“The gym is a bit like the prison’s pressure cookerhe schematizes. If it whistles here, it’s likely to explode.” An agitated prisoner, prey to troubles, will therefore have every interest in being “channeled” to sport rather than risk an outbreak of violence. “There are some who would break a mouth every week if we didn’t push them to give their all in CrossFit for example”confides Sébastien.

For Lionel*, who describes himself as a “confirmed repeat offender”sports activities are a lifeline. In Bapaume, he is an “auxi”, meaning sports assistant, responsible for supporting the instructors. This special status allows him to have more free access to sports equipment, a godsend for someone who represented his establishment at the last Olympics. Very committed to his mission, Lionel would like more slots to be offered. But the gym is already at full capacity, objects the management of the center, which emphasizes certain safety instructions and the importance of other activities such as education and work, with a view to better reintegration.

At the end of a wild encounter, the no-bibs won the blind football match 1-0. The referee had barely been dismissed when it was already time to leave the gymnasium area. Not without collecting his medal, gold or silver. Some objected kindly: “There was cheating anyway!” It is true that wearing a mask was not always respected… No matter, the activity was enjoyed and the group left with a smile. While in Hauts-de-France, the Olympic Games could cause a jump in sports registrations at the start of the school year, the Olympic week “put some inmates back on the way to the room”rejoices Sébastien, with the feeling of having “scored one more point”.

*First names marked with an asterisk have been changed.