Mar 03, 2021
The organising committee has tried for almost a year to design and develop measures to welcome the elite of Olympic sailing in the safest conditions; however, the DIGES (France’s inter-ministerial delegation for major sporting events) has not given their permission to celebrate the event.
Happening a few months before the Tokyo Olympic Games, the French Olympic Week in Hyères is always a crucial event for Olympic sailing. The Finn class had planned to award their European title here, but they will have to either postpone or change the venue for this to happen.
“We made the difficult decision to cancel Hyères’s 2021 Semaine Olympique Française following the response from DIGES,” Nicolas Hénard, President of the FFVoile (France’s sailing federation), said.
Initially this historic event was planned to be held from April 17th to 24th, but to meet health constraints they proposed a new version scheduled over four weeks. Despite changes, this was not approved by the DIGES.
Now we are focussing on the organising committee’s plan for the 2022 edition of the French Olympic Week, with Toulon Provence Mediterranée and World Sailing as partners. They aim at preparing an exceptional event from April 23rd to 30th, so we are optimistic on the international event that will host the new Olympic disciplines for “Paris 2024”.