French Prime Minister Jean Castex speaking at Font Romeu after opening the Colette Besson track ©gouvernement.fr

French Prime Minister Jean Castex has opened a new athletics track at Font Romeu in the Pyrenees and inaugurated a €45 million (£38 million/$55 million) project for a High Performance Preparation Centre (CPHP) due to be completed in time for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Standing at the track, named after Colette Besson, the Mexico City 1968 Olympic 400 metres champion who died in 2005, Castex recalled that the original National Centre for Altitude Training had been created according to the will of the then French President, General De Gaulle, La Tribune reports.

It followed "the poor French results at the 1960 Olympic Games" and the aim was to raise the level of performances by the time of the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

"We must be ready for battle for the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2024, and for high performance in sport in general," said Castex.

Carole Delga, President of the Occitanie Region said the upgraded facility, which will host national and international athletes, will become "a world reference in terms of high-level training". 

Delga affirmed: "This new equipment, innovative from a technological and ecological point of view, will make it possible to increase the attractiveness of Occitanie."

She added her wish "that the Olympic Games in Paris, it is not only Paris ".

The French Prime Minister Jean Castex has opened a new track at the Font Romeu centre named after 1968 Olympic 400m champion Colette Besson ©Getty Images
The French Prime Minister Jean Castex has opened a new track at the Font Romeu centre named after 1968 Olympic 400m champion Colette Besson ©Getty Images

The project is being jointly funded by the Occitanie Region, which is contributing €18.5 million (£16 million/$22.5 million), the French Government is giving €15 million (£13 million/$18.3 million), the European REACT-EU fund €10 million (£8.5 million/$12.1 million) and the Department of Pyrénées-Orientales €1.5 million (£1.3 million/$1.8 million).

For the companies in charge of construction there is a tight schedule, with delivery due to take place in two phases, in 2023 and at the end of spring 2024.

The CPHP will cover 9,200 square metres and will include a sports performance-support unit with medical areas, physical preparation, recovery and care, and a 50m Nordic pool with 10 swimming lanes, which will be the only one in the world at this altitude.

It is 1,850m above sea level.

There will also be rooms for receptions and seminars, as well as a complex of four gymnasiums dedicated to combat sports and team sports.

Castex inaugurated the Colette Besson Athletics Track in the presence of one of her daughters.

Since 2016 the Occitanie Region has spent a total of €47.2 million (£40.5 million/$57.5 million) on the Font Romeu site, which has been a popular high-altitude training resort for elite athletes for more than 50 years.

Before becoming Prime Minister, Castex was interministerial delegate for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.