We explain why the tatami of the Arena du Champ-de-Mars had to be reassembled during the night from Wednesday to Thursday

As the judo events begin on Saturday at the temporary Grand Palais, the site has been the subject of several criticisms.

The pressure is mounting in the Arena du Champ-de-Mars. While the structure is due to host the first judo events on Saturday, the entire competition area was dismantled on Wednesday, July 24, because the floor on which the tatamis were installed was not suitable.

An unsuitable structure

A rain of criticism fell on the Arena du Champ-de-Mars. Host of the judo events, from Saturday March 27 to Saturday August 3, the ephemeral structure was clearly not up to the event. An unsuitable floor causing too much bouncing on the tatamis, too much dust on the site … the reproaches flew. “NOTWe are ready from a sporting point of view, but unfortunately the site is not ready and we are suffering from it,” said Marius Vizer, president of the International Judo Federation (IJF).

Another difficulty identified before the start of the events was a problem with the flow of athletes, who had to take “ten minutes to go to the gym and come back, while they can fight every ten minutes”regretted Stéphane Nomis, president of the French Judo Federation (FFJ).

A problem that should be fixed in time

On Wednesday, the competition site floor was dismantled, before a new floor was reassembled during the night from Wednesday to Thursday. The Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, wanted to be reassuring on Thursday, speaking to franceinfo.“It will be perfect” for the start of the competitions, she assured. “Knowing the International Federation, if they have to get the tatamis out of I don’t know where, they will do it. In my opinion, yes there were problems, but I tell you, tonight it’s settled,” added French judoka Teddy Riner to franceinfo:sport.

“It’s like in all organizations, at the end of the project, there are failures. This one was more important. We helped put things back in place,” confirmed Stéphane Nomis to franceinfo:sport. While the quality of the ground should be restored by the start of the competition, cleaning the site in time is the final challenge for the organisers. “There is dust everywhere” confirms the president of the French Judo Federation to AFP.

The Cojo pointed out by the French Federation

Stéphane Nomis, who claims to organize every year at Bercy “the most beautiful major judo events” during the Grand Slam, regrets having been sidelined by the Olympic Games Organizing Committee (COJO). “He (the Cojo) works mainly with International Federations and not with National Federations”, he adds.

“They have been doing without us since the beginning, and now they have called on us for help in the last 15 days. They put a little pressure on everyone to work more, to work better and above all to work together, to correspond more to the standards of world judo and French judo too.” he concludes.