This applies to everyone at all levels; first and foremost, to the athletes who will participate this summer at the peak of their careers of course. We don't hear much from them at the moment and that is quite normal. Does that mean that nothing is happening in the small world of the very high level? Quite the opposite. The return to the stable after the last qualifying events and the announcement of the list of qualified judoka corresponds to an intense phase of preparation. The spotlights are not on yet but soon will be.
It is now a question of refining the last details and preparing both physically and mentally, this second aspect being undoubtedly one of the most important. The Olympic Games, which take place every four years, have the special flavour of an event not to be missed. One misstep and you have to wait four more years to have another chance to perform. That's not nothing. It makes us take stock of the champions who have been able to participate in several Games and those who have managed to win several medals. There will still be many in this bracket in Paris. There will also be all those who want to inscribe their name for the first time in the pantheon of world sport.
The aforementioned fever does not only apply to athletes, it also concerns those who participate in their preparation, directly or indirectly. Coaches, medical staff, federation managers, etc., many of them wish and hope that their protégés give the best of themselves on D-Day. The stakes are high because the results of the summer, beyond the joy they can generate, will already help define how the next Olympic cycle will unfold, which will end in four years in Los Angeles but let's not rush things and stay focused on Paris.
Among those who also feel the temperature rising, even if summer has not yet really appeared in France, there are all the organisers, those people in the shadows who make sure that everything goes as well as possible and as planned. France is a country of judo, this is not in doubt and as such, the Olympic judo tournament promises to be a great vintage, where popular fervour will reflect the performances of the French athletes as well as judoka from all over the world. We can optimistically and realistically expect an incredible atmosphere in the stadium from the first 'hajime!'
For weeks, months, even years, the International Judo Federation has been doing everything it can with its international and national partners to ensure that the Paris 2024 Games are a huge success. After all this time, the moment has come to take action and it is precisely this action that is raising the temperature.