This stupor and disgust crossed the Insep (the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance), in the Bois de Vincennes in Paris, this Sunday morning. Maëva Danois, a 3000 m steeplechase and cross-country specialist who is also a supervisor in the miners’ building of the Parisian institute, discovered that three giant photos installed in front of the entrance gates of the establishment, had been deteriorated by racist inscriptions made with a felt pen.
On the first, the kimono of double Olympic judo champion, Teddy Riner, is crossed out with the word “monkey”. On the second, representing Dimitri Bascou, the 110m hurdles bronze medalist at the Rio Olympics, the inscription “negro” has been affixed. In the third photo, French wheelchair tennis player Michael Jérémiasz parades at the opening ceremony of the Rio Paralympics alongside a colored volunteer. In front of the latter’s face, we can also read “monkey”.
“A general attack on sport”
“I was going to jog in the Bois de Vincennes around 9:30 am when I discovered these three photos, tells us Danish Maëva. I was deeply shocked. For me, it’s a general attack on sport. Racism has even less of a place here. It is so far from our values. Everyone is attacked through these insults and not just the athletes in the photos. I didn’t have my phone with me, but an athlete who was with me took photos and sent them to me. I sent them to the management of Insep and also shared on Twitter where I wrote: You have just attacked the big family of French sport. This family brings us together with our different cultures, our differences in skin colors, we share values much stronger than your oyster IQ. And even the oyster is smarter. “
The news quickly spread around the establishment and the athletes, like the Olympic vice-champion of modern pentathlon Élodie Clouvel, also shared their indignation on social networks. In the afternoon, the management of Insep decided to file a complaint against X on Monday morning. In the process, she wrote a press release in which Ghani Yalouz, the managing director, notably launched: “We will not bow our heads, we will not yield any ground to hatred, cowardice and stupidity. “
The affair also reacted to the Minister of Sports this Sunday afternoon. On Twitter, Roxana Maracineanu denounced these racist tags and recalled that the fight against racism remained paramount. “The images of these despicable and cowardly acts carried out outside the Insep remind us that the fight against racism must continue. Let us not relax our vigilance. All my support for the athletes and those who feel dirty with these revolting behaviors, ”she wrote.
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