Officials have supported the campaign in the hope of boosting France’s medal haul in 2024, it was claimed ALAMYFrench boules may be widely associated with old men with alcohol passing time in the shade of a French village square but players have been told to shape up as the sport seeks inclusion in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Not only have the sport’s governing bodies published strict rules demanding “correct attire” during competitions, but they are encouraging the best players to submit themselves to physical and psychological training sessions. The aim is to convince the International Olympic Committee that boules is a high-level sport, and not only a leisure activity practised by retired people wearing jeans and T-shirts gathering around a some battered metal balls and a bottle of aniseed-based liqueur. Claude Azéma, chairman of the International Pétanque Federation, said that Britain was…

Source: The Times July 29, 2018 23:37 UTC