the flame and the dragon – Liberation

As the torch relay passes, hundreds of people gather to capture a little of the Olympic spirit. Until Paris, the flame will circulate from torch to torch. This week, after a hike to the summit in the Mont-Blanc massif, the flame sailed into Besançon on a strange boat.

A blue and red dragon. On Tuesday, June 25, in Besançon, the Olympic torch relay briefly adopted the shape and colors of the Société nautique bisontine (SNB). At 83, Michel Chapuis held the torch aloft on the bow of a dragon boat to cross the city while sailing on the Doubs. Chapuis is not only one of the pillars of the SNB who continues to paddle every week: he was a silver medalist in the 1,000-meter two-seater canoe, just behind the Soviets, at the Tokyo Games in 1964. After Japan, Michel Chapuis continued his sporting career by becoming a double world champion, in duo and team whitewater descent.

Dragon boating is a water sport that is practiced on a pirogue about 12 meters long and 1.20 meters wide. Twenty people sit in ten rows and paddle to the rhythm of drums. In Besançon, 20 young athletes from the SNB transported Michel Chapuis, whose relay marked the 60th anniversary of his Olympic victory. On his arrival at the water station, he was greeted by more than 10,000 people before passing the flame to Anaïs Bescond, a biathlete from Haut-Jura, who lit the cauldron.