They carried the Olympic flame to Sète in 1968: “the most significant event” in Jean Catarina's life

Jean Catarina, alors joueur et entraîneur de l’AS Corniche. – DR

Le 15 janvier 1968, Jean Catarina reçoit la flamme olympique des Jeux de Grenoble des mains d’un cycliste du Guidon sportif sétois. Le footballeur de l'AS Corniche en conserve des images mémorables.

"This is by far the most significant event of my sporting life!" On January 15, 1968, Jean Catarina received the Olympic flame from the Grenoble games, from the hands of a cyclist from Guidon sportif Sétois, at Les Quilles, and set off for a kilometer full of symbols.

After playing for the FC Sète reserve, the Sétois is then a player and young coach of an equally young football club, since he co-founded it for two years earlier. "I set off with my entire team from AS Corniche behind me, accompanied by a CRS escort on motorbike", he remembers while contemplating one of the carefully preserved photos, in which we see him wearing a tracksuit flocked with a seahorse, the emblem of AS Corniche.< /p>

He ran… injured!

"What no one knew was that, having sprained my ankle very shortly before the flame passed, I’ ;rsquo;had received novocaine injections from the doctor to cope with the pain. That day, I didn't feel anything, smiles the one who would later occupy the position of Deputy for Sports – but above all as a Personnel Assistant – in the municipal team of Yves Marchand.

On January 15, 1968, Jean Catarina remembers the popular fervor and the desire of the Sétois to participate in the celebration. "There was very little security around the flame. I finished my journey in front of the Coq d’Or, the bar on the Corniche. There, my father-in-law approached. He made me promise to let him touch the Olympic flame. It wasn't a problem for anyone!"

From Sète to Grenoble

The story could have ended there. However, a few weeks later, on a whim, Jean and his wife climbed into their Renault 4CV and hit the road, heading towards Grenoble. "After the episode of the flame, we wanted to participate in the Olympic Games celebration. We landed in Isère without an anorak and in street shoes. In Chamrousse, we saw Jean-Claude Killy emerge from the fog to win gold. My wife even waited in line for three hours to get tickets for the ice hockey final!"

Having entered politics in 1971, it was naturally with an Olympic flame on his poster that candidate Catarina would campaign for the legislative elections a few years later. &quot ;It’s a symbol that followed me. And this Monday, I will go see the flame pass over Saint-Clair with a little nostalgia."