Published9. January 2024, 23:12
Sport: Prospective primer for sport in 2024 (3/4)
The year that has just begun promises to be intense for athletes, but also for those who like to follow athletes from their sofa. In four episodes, we tried to imagine what sport will be like in 2024. Or not. Rather not, actually…
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Robin Carrel
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N for: Novak the GOAT
Rafael Nadal is back, but ended up losing in the French Open quarterfinals to Stanislas Wawrinka; Roger Federer has become a walking billboard, especially present in China or the Emirates, where his rare public outings are most expensive; and even Andy Murray, who is having a final season in the form of a farewell tour, are still the most popular in the world of the little yellow ball. Novak Djokovic celebrated his 37th birthday in May and he has probably never been stronger. And perhaps no one has ever been so good at their sport since it existed! But the Serbian remains a pest for two-thirds of the followers of the little yellow ball just because he makes time to go to the toilet or take care of himself when he is down two sets to one in a major tournament. Terrible, because even his calendar Grand Slam without losing a set in 2024 was not enough to definitively give him the title of GOAT in people’s hearts.
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O like: Oezdemir
It’s the year of consecration for the Fribourgeois! “No Time” ultimately took his time, but he ended up wielding the UFC light heavyweight championship belt. After a victory in the spring in a few seconds against Johnny Walker in the octagon of the O2 Arena in London that he knows so well, the Swiss has skyrocketed in the hierarchy of his category. But it was thanks to a great combination of circumstances that he managed to ascend the throne. And the first is not the least: he managed to obtain the right to set foot on American soil again! Everything then happened very quickly. In September, in Las Vegas, champion Alex Pereira was first scheduled to face Jamahal Hill. But the latter fell into his jacuzzi and broke his foot. The 2nd in the ranking, Jiri Prochazka was struggling to recover from a previous KO, while the 3rd Magomed Ankalaev no longer had credit for his package and could not be contacted. Volkan Oezdemir was finally called four days before the fight to save the furniture and he will do much better than that: a submission from elsewhere in the 2nd round!
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P for: Pellaudism
Another great story in this year 2024! Simon Pellaud ended up making his dream come true and won a stage of the Tour de Romandie. The most Colombian of the Valaisans won, solo at that, the mountain stage on Thursday towards Salvan/Les Marécottes. The Tudor team rider started as usual from km 0 and no one followed him, believing that “Pellaudism” – this current of cycling which involves a lot of panache, but does not bring masses of victories in the World Tour padlocked by the battalions of teams with enormous budgets – would once again be synonymous with a beautiful but futile escape. Except that this time the Swiss had a secret tip on the side of the road. His girlfriend had in fact traveled from South America and slipped into the fan club of the former rider of the IAM Cycling team. In the bends just above the Gorges du Trient that he knows so well, Pellaud was treated to a boost of an energy drink known only to certain Colombian tribes just before the banner of the last ten kilometers. He finished more than 4 minutes ahead. Insufficient, however, to race overall, he who had lost a quarter of an hour the day before around Fribourg, after he had stopped to watch the peloton go by to applaud them on the climb to the Lorette.
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Q like: almost the right distance
It was the big tragedy in the canton of Vaud this year: the course of the Lausanne half-marathon was too long! A measurer certified by world authorities had checked the course and the verdict was final. There were about 300 meters too many compared to the planned 21.0975 km! The runners’ times were ultimately not corrected and it was a tragedy for many. We know how much an athlete doesn’t like having his average lowered! But the various Lausanne organizers ended up finding a way to be forgiven by the general public. It was thus decided in the sub-committee that, exceptionally in 2024, the 20 Kilometers of Lausanne, scheduled for April 27 and 28, will this time be 19,600 meters. Everyone will have the opportunity to beat their record and recover from the negative emotions experienced in the “semi” of 2023. Hurry, online registrations are already starting this month!
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R for: retirement
We ended up thinking that it would never happen, but Christian Constantin has indeed left FC Sion in the summer of 2024. His FC Sion! The Valais omni-president handed over to the mysterious “Collectif Tourbillon”, just after promotion to the Super League was easily validated in the spring. The new owners were forced to drastically reduce the size, so as not to have to spend between 10 and 15 million francs to be able to race, and attempted to launch a 100% Valais squad in the Super League. The public followed, but it was sportingly daring. At Christmas, after only 4 points in 22 matches, FC Sion ended up being bought for a symbolic franc by Mario Balotelli. As for Barthélémy Constantin, history does not yet tell what will become of him. According to information from Le Nouvelliste, the last time he was seen, he was in an Internet café revamping his CV to apply as sports director of Lausanne-Sport. A file quickly rejected by Ludovic Magnin and the young man spent the summer serving kebabs at Naters, while waiting to be able to bounce back into the world of football.
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S for: Super League
Surprise! Barely had the courts legislated on the subject than the dreaded Super League was launched by a few rebellious clubs. Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Juventus and Naples, in particular, are the bridgeheads of this project, supposed to bring in 5 billion francs per year while being broadcast for free on the internet. Problem: apart from these clubs, no one followed. The English earn enough money between themselves, the Germans love real football and the French are always two or three trains behind anyway. The founding teams set out and cast their net wide, very wide, in order to fill the 64 places in their new competition. In group A, for example, one of the two groups of this Super League, Real Madrid will have to battle against Naples, Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia), Kairat Almaty (Kazakhstan), Dinamo Brest (Belarus), Football Club Andorra, FC Luxembourg City and Stade Lausanne Ouchy II (Switzerland). Not super exciting…
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2024-01-09 22:24:57
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