Thomas Carmoy mixed frustration with a smile when he spoke to RTBF colleague David Bertrand on Friday at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels. The 26-year-old high jumper was disappointed after clearing only 2.16 metres in the men’s high jump competition, but he quickly turned to a message on behalf of the Belgian athletes taking part.
“I want to have a little rant. I never do this and I am always positive. But I find the way the organisation treats us here a little bit… I’m not going to say cowardly, but we are not considered. Some Belgian athletes do not feel considered here at the Memorial Van Damme. We are more like pawns, with spectators coming here for us. We do this a bit voluntarily and willingly and it is just to please us, whereas indirectly I also want to please the crowd and live this experience to the full.”
“We are not asking for a five-star hotel”
Carmoy’s main criticism was that, at the 50th edition of the meeting, the organisers had not provided a hotel room for every Belgian athlete. “I am not going to make excuses either, because I have no excuses to make. But I had two and a half hours in the car to get here. We were not given a hotel even though I think there are about 15 Belgians taking part in the Memorial Van Damme” (there are in fact many more, the source notes). “It is still a chance of a lifetime to take part, for me who has already taken part or for others. We are not asking for much, just that. It is also stressful. Two and a half hours in the car… I get here and I am 35 minutes from the call room.
“I just wanted to speak a little for all the Belgian athletes. We all discussed it together a bit. And it is true that they do this to please us, but indirectly they also have to count on us and place their trust in us. That was my little rant of the evening. No excuses and fully satisfied. Thanks again to the crowd, who are lovely every year, and I hope to come back next year.”
Already keen to get back to work next season, Carmoy summed up his view when David Bertrand asked whether he was therefore criticising the organisers for treating Belgian athletes differently from foreign ones. “It is still a Diamond League final. I know there is not much that can be done. We are just asking for the necessary, the bare minimum. We are not asking for a five-star hotel, nothing special. Just to be a bit considered and to have a hotel night so we can enjoy the atmosphere and all be together. […] I experienced it again last year: I was in the hotel and I do not understand why I am not there this year.”