Stories about Squash and Olympics
This summer’s must-see event, the Paris Olympics, kicks off this week. It was an opportunity to offer you a fun episode of our weekly chronicle, drawing some parallels between the Games and the Paris Squash 2024.
NOURAN GOHAR WILL ATTEND THIS YEAR’S OLYMPICS, BUT NOT AS AN ATHLETE
Beaten in the final of the Paris Squash 2023 by Nour El Sherbini, Nouran Gohar was unstoppable at the end of the season and will be a contender for the title at the Cirque d’Hiver from 15 to 21 of September, along with her fellow Egyptian rival. Before then, the so-called Terminator will spend a few days in Paris at the end of July, for two reasons. To train with Camille Serme, but also to attend the fencing event at the Olympic Games. Being the world number 1 in saber, a first for a fencer from the African continent, her husband Ziad El-Sissy can hope to clinch some silverware at the Grand Palais, with some French support: Egypt’s national coach Vincent Anstett is also the mentor of several French fencers. As you know, squash will make its first appearance in Los Angeles in 2028, and Gohar and El-Sissy have already shared that competing in the Olympics together is a dream for them.
Ziad El-Sissy, here with her wife Nouran Gohar, had clinched the bronze medal at the 2023 Sabre World Championship in Milan (Photo credit: Ziad El-Sissy)
THE CIRQUE D’HIVER LIKES FIGHTING SPORTS
As we mentioned in our column dedicated to the Cirque d’Hiver-Bouglione, this iconic site of the French capital has already hosted numerous sporting events, including sports that will feature in the Olympics this summer in Paris. There is boxing - Olympic silver medalist Daouda Sow had fought there in 2015 - and especially wrestling: in the 2010s, French national teams had contested in several international meetings overthere.
In a recent past, the Cirque d’Hiver-Bouglione has hosted numerous international wrestling contests (Photo credit: ID Sport)
SPORT AT THE HEART OF PARIS
From September 15 to 21, the Paris Squash 2024 will take place at the heart of the French capital. Before that, some events of the Olympic and Paralympic Games will take place near the Cirque d’Hiver-Bouglione. The closest venue is the Accor Arena de Bercy, where basketball knockout stages, artistic gymnastics, trampoline and wheelchair basketball will be held. There is also the Esplanade des Invalides, the Grand Palais, which we mentioned above for fencing, the Pont Alexandre III and the Place de la Concorde, which will be the hub for urban sports at the Olympics and the opening ceremony site for the Paralympics.
Located a few kilometers away from the Cirque d’Hiver, the place de la Concorde will be one of the major sites for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Photo credit: ID Sport)
WHEN FRENCH TOP ATHLETES GRAB A RACKET
Top athletes frequently mention squash as an additional sport to the one they play for a living. Among them we find some French legends who have already won Olympic gold and are hoping to repeat that feat in Paris this summer. Teddy Riner, who’ll be huge favorite in judo in the heavyweight category, said that squash was one of the sports he played in his youth. Florent Manaudou, a 50-meter freestyle podium contender, plays squash from time to time. We’ve even seen him on the glass court at the French National Centre in Aix-en-Provence, alongside Baptiste Masotti who will be one of France best chances in the men’s draw at the Cirque d’Hiver.
A true chance of a medal for France at the Olympic Games in Paris, swimmer Florent Manaudou has already exchanged a few balls with the best French squash players, for example Baptiste Masotti (Photo credit: Baptiste Masotti)
SQUASH AT THE CLUB FRANCE
Even though squash will have to wait 4 years to make its first appearance at the Olympic Games, it will be in Paris this summer. Indeed, the French Squash Federation has been invited to set up 3 inflatable courts the at Club France, in order to promote the sport to a wide audience. Come and join at the Grande Halle de la Villette on July 27 and 28!
The French Squash Federation will be at the Club France at the end of the week (Photo credit: Club France Paris 2024)
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