Posted Jan 21, 2023, 11:00 AM
This is the first Olympic delegation that the Val-de-Marne will welcome. The Departmental Council formalized on Thursday January 12 the fact that the Japanese breaking delegation would come to train in the department ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
As a reminder, breaking is a new Olympic discipline: according to the 2024 Olympics website, it is a style of dance “from hip-hop culture”, known in particular for its impressive figures on the ground. During the games, the athletes will compete in battles organized on the Place de la Concorde.
Training in Vitry from August
To prepare for the games, the Japanese breaking delegation has more specifically chosen the Brickworks of Vitry-sur-Seine , where the Val-de-Marne National Choreographic Development Center (CDCN) is located. According to Patricia Korchef-Lambert, vice-president in charge of sports at the Departmental Council, it is above all “the history of the place and the exposed bricks” that have more to the delegation. The dancers will come to train in Vitry from August and will return in 2024 before joining the athletes’ village in Seine-Saint-Denis, for the Games.
This is part of the strategy of the Departmental Council, which wishes to attract foreign delegations to its thirty games preparation centers (CPJ), for lack of events organized in the Val-de-Marne. In January, the mayor (UDI) Charlotte Libert-Albanel had nevertheless announced that a cycling event, the time trial would take place in the streets of her town.
Active discussions with other foreign delegations
The Val-de-Marne wishes to position itself as “the largest French Olympic and Paralympic training center”. “We are in active discussions to welcome other foreign delegations”, indicates Patricia Korchef-Lambert, without however revealing their identity.
The vice-president stresses, however, that the Department wishes to welcome “all sports”. She cites in particular judo, rowing, fencing, archery, handball, swimming and even paracanoeing. During the last Olympic and Paralympic Games , about twenty athletes from Val-de-Marne had also taken part in the events of some of these disciplines. Some had particularly distinguished themselves: the swordsman Romain Cannone, registered with the VGA Saint-Maur, had for example won gold in Tokyo.
