Unusual. Mondial de pétanque in Marseille: the crazy story of this legend of boules
By Writing Marseilles
Published on
The story dates back to 1962, when the Ricard company joined forces with the local newspaper The Marseillaise to organize a popular pétanque festival. Today, it is the biggest competition in the world, with nearly 15,000 players, 90 departments represented and around thirty foreign nations. The president of the tournament, Pierre Guille, is delighted with the good performance of this exceptional meeting, at Borely Park.
The legendary story of Marco Foyot
Marco Foyot is the memory and the living legend of Marseille, with 6 victories and a legendary hat-trick in 1974, 1975, and 1976. He agreed to tell us his quite unusual story. At the time, the 20-year-old was a soldier. He deserted.
All smiles, the man confides: “I had lied from the start, saying that I was coming for an athletics tournament, in the France hopeful team for the 800 meter”. Finally, the young Marco of the time left to do the world championship The Marseillaise. He was to return to Fontainebleau in Seine et Marne, where his barracks were. But he chained the victories. “I never went back to sleep at the barracks, except once to collect my things”.
The Ricard company would then have intervened to “offer gifts to (his) lieutenant colonel”, says Foyot, “if not, I risked 1 month in prison. »
Indeed, “at the time, it was not fun”. He assures him: “I was barely 20 years old, I did not realize at all the consequences of deserting. And his passion for petanque, he owes it to his father, a trainer in a bowling alley.
President Pierre Guille still laughs about it. “I also remember that the tournament allowed a commentator from France Bleu to meet his future wife, she was a trainee from the world. “To be continued for the next anecdotes of the world, always in good shape…
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