Qwhat a sequence! After the Rugby World Cup in 2023 and before the start of the Tour du France in 2025, Lille is preparing to take its part in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games by hosting the preliminary basketball phases and the final handball phases. “You only experience this once in your life”rejoices the director of the Hello Lille attractiveness agency, François Navarro.
From July 27 to August 11, more than 1.5 million people are expected in the capital of Flanders. The entire territory is in the starting blocks to welcome supporters… and transform them into future tourists. “We are banking a lot on the Scandinavian clientele, keen on handball, and American, with Team USA which will stay at L’Hermitage Gantois, continues François Navarro. We are going to highlight everything that we can do between two sessions: the major exhibitions, the tour of taverns and brasseries, the cultural Olympics…”
Optimism
While Paris fears saturation, Lille sees the Games as a bonus, summer usually being a slow period: “The reservation rate is currently 35%. It’s not huge, but it’s better than a normal year, where we peak at 10-15%.”, observes Boris Delecroix, president of the Lille Métropole Hotel Club and director of the Grand Hôtel Bellevue. Unlike Paris, no QR code will be required to access the Olympic zone. The prefect of Hauts-de-France even gave up on setting up an “Olympic route” so as not to complicate traffic on the N 227, which leads to the Pierre-Mauroy stadium. As for the increase in the price of the metro ticket – it will increase by 86% in Paris –, “the question was not even asked”, says the mayor of Lille, Martine Aubry, keen to encourage visitors to take public transport. Even if the trains on line 1 have not been doubled as promised by Alstom… “ We had no problems during the Rugby World Cup, but there was only one match a week. In the event of a failure, replacement buses are provided », Reassures Éric Skyronka, vice-president of the MEL in charge of sports.
In addition to a sports activities village on the Grand-Place, a pedestrian path dotted with food trucks and areas for introducing basketball or handball is planned between the Quatre-Cantons metro station and the Decathlon Arena. Because, if Lille has been labeled host community for the Olympic Games by the Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop), it is in Villeneuve-d’Ascq that they will really take place. “But we don’t have the right to use the expression “Olympic city” and it’s very complicated to have a display”, deplores the deputy in charge of sports, Farid Oukaid. However, the municipality spares no effort. In 2020, it contributed 4 million euros to the expansion of the Palacium. A project (totaling 6.5 million euros) which allows the ESBVA basketball players’ field, European vice-champions, to be transformed into a training center for all the Olympic teams… or almost: Team USA, which requested exclusive use, was refused. The French men’s and women’s handball teams, however, were able to train in the Marcel-Cerdan room, where the city of Villeneuve-d’Ascq invested €85,000 to modernize the locker rooms.
Project accelerator
“The presidents of the National League and the French Handball Federation (FFH) fell in love with this room”justifies Farid Oukaid. “Here, we are at home, confirms the president of the FFH, Philippe Bana. We had incredible moments during the 2017 World Cup.” Enough to forget the words of the goalkeeper of the French team, Vincent Gérard, who declared upon learning that the final tests would not be held in Paris: “It sucks. » “We did not let the bitterness of the athletes prevail, we developed a strategy with the MEL to experience the Games before, during and after”, retorts Philippe Bana. The FFH thus financed with the Savings Bank an outdoor field adjoining the Villeneuve-d’Ascq Stadium in order to encourage the practice of handball. At the beginning of May, she organized L’Incroyable Tournée, Place de la République, in Lille, to promote her sport. “Lille embodies the Olympics of tomorrow: they are not the business of one city, they must be shared”believes Philippe Bana.
Built by the MEL to accommodate athletes, the Olympium also made a strong impression on Jérôme Fernandez, the ambassador of the FFH, and Tony Estanguet. Among its 495 rooms and 550 beds there are several single rooms. “Accommodation conditions superior to those of the Olympic village in Paris”, underlines Éric Skyronka. The equipment, which also includes relaxation lounges and medical rooms, will be transformed from September into residences for students and training centers. “We used the Games to accelerate this project”, underlines Farid Oukaid. Next door, the Stadium, equipped with a weight room and renovated locker rooms, will also be made available to athletes. Former player of the French rugby team and president of Stade Villeneuvois, where she trains, Laura Di Muzio is delighted. “We dreamed of it, the Olympics did it! We now have a training setting worthy of the greatest national centers”rejoices the one who will carry the Olympic flame and wants to promote women’s practice.
No fan zone…
In total, the MEL invested 12 million euros for its Games. The city of Lille, which also provides the Saint-Sauveur sports center for basketball teams, spent €150,000. “The Olympics carry values of respect and are a fantastic opportunity to bring happiness to residents”, confides Martine Aubry. The metropolis also had no trouble filling up with volunteers with 400 volunteers recruited. Their jerseys were manufactured by the Résilience integration workshop, in Roubaix, in partnership with Decathlon. “In eleven months, we made 36,000 t-shirts out of the 250,000 made throughout France. It will be a pride to see them worn”underlines the director of the workshop, Cindy Hutcheon.
However, the organizers did not involve the residents as much as they would have liked: “The business aspect sometimes comes out. With everything we make available to Cojop, we don’t even benefit from preferential ticket prices”regrets Farid Oukaid, who bought 1,000 basketball tickets – “handball was two to three times more expensive” – for children in daycare centers and social centers. The city of Lille spent €45,000 on the purchase of 873 tickets. “Tickets are initially reserved for the general public. When the MEL accepted the Games on its territory, it knew the specifications”, defends Yannick Le Borgne, head of the organization in Lille within Cojop. While 80% of tickets have been sold, local elected officials hope to recover unsold tickets to benefit the population, who will not even be able to console themselves with a fan zone, this having been banned by the prefecture for security reasons. §
Lille in flames
The Olympic flame will arrive in Lille on July 2. Mila Monnanteuil (BMX), Victor Mahon (wheelchair rugby), Souhad Ghazouani (weightlifting), David Sombé (athletics), Laura Di Muzio (rugby) and Serge Leroy (three times French javelin throwing champion) will be the bearers . From rue Faidherbe to the city center, a Lille 3000-style parade will take place, in which 60 sports clubs have already announced their participation.
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