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Everything else that mattered disappeared, the country was consumed by the struggle beneath the five rings. For more than two weeks, the French had only one event: the Summer Olympics in Paris. They didn’t even seem to miss the name of the new prime minister they had been waiting for since the elections at the turn of June and July.
photo: SITA/AP, Dar Yasin
France is ecstatic. Fans in Paris celebrated one of French swimmer Leon Marchand’s four gold medals in front of a big screen with joy.
Opinion media, which are mainly concerned with politics, changed the order of their columns. The news servers of the main newspapers Le Monde, Le Figaro and Libération put sports in the foreground. Even the Catholic newspaper La Croix (which translates to “the Cross” in French) replaced Christian themes with texts about the Olympics.
President Emmanuel Macron cut short his vacation to come as a spectator to cheer on French swimming star Leon Marchand. The outstanding athlete won four gold medals and a bronze. (Macron, of course, took a photo with him afterwards.) The French West server wrote that during the Olympics, about 30,000 posts about Marchand appeared in all French media. The head of the Elysee Palace, there were less than 12,000.
The frenzy over the achievements of local Olympians will not die down soon. Macron announced that the nation will gather with its dear ones in the middle of next month: “14. September 2024, on the Champs-Elysées,” X wrote on social networks. These words do not need translation, the president added that the French can gather to celebrate their athletes. On the Champs-Elysées their procession will take place; it is not yet clear whether they will be on foot or in convertibles. It will be a great honor, since the solemn military parade is held every year on the occasion of the National Day, July 14. The anniversary of the conquest of the Bastille in 1789 (the beginning of the French Revolution).
France’s obsession with the Olympics stems mainly from the outstanding performances of its domestic athletes. They have won 64 medals (16 gold, 26 silver and 22 bronze) with great skill. Hardly a day goes by when French fans do not enjoy the joy of winning the most precious metal. Le Monde even sympathizes with Lucia Castex, who is still trying in vain to convince Macron to appoint her as the next head of the government: every time she says something to the media to draw the public attention she deserves, she is overshadowed by some new French gold medalist.
Macron and all the organizers of the race can be satisfied. They have to be. After all, the media is generous with its praise. “Paris provided a space for a moment of national unity, the likes of which we have not seen for a long time,” stressed the attendant of Le Presse. At the same time, he (like other media) praised the organizers for a job well done. Le Monde reported on the noble Paris, and of course, their security forces also deserve praise for the fact that there was no possibility of any terrorist attack or other tragic incidents.
Tony Estanguet, former great French canoeist and current president of the Olympic Committee, made no secret of his satisfaction. When asked by Le Tribune if he thought the Games would be a success before they began, he replied: “It exceeded my expectations,” and he also pointed out the wonderful new sports facilities in Paris.
Liberation noted that Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, was one of the winners who did not compete for medals. Let us recall that before the Olympics she was the object of criticism; right-wing politicians, for example, often teased the socialist woman, saying that she would surely cause traffic chaos. (This did not happen, Le Monde wrote admiringly that all contacts were made on time.)
“Two years ago she was laughed at in the peloton, but now she has a political victory that allows her to get back on the horse,” Liberation magazine stressed. In the spring of 2022, she suffered a heavy defeat in the presidential elections. With only 1.7% of the vote, the worst result in the history of all Liberation movements, it is suggested that a successful Olympic Games could pave the way for Hidalgo’s re-election as mayor of Paris (elections will be held in 2026).
Sometimes politicians only rely on the success of national team athletes. Some people joked that Macron interrupted his vacation just to take a photo with swimming gold medalist Marchand. However, Le Figaro pointed out that the Elysee Palace allocated a large amount of funds for high-quality training of French Olympic athletes before the Olympics.
One of the biggest investments made by the state in the development of French sports was a project implemented after the disastrous 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. The French team had suffered a terrible defeat: they won only five medals, none of which were gold…
The fiasco did not go unnoticed by President Charles de Gaulle: “If France shines abroad with its thinkers, scientists and artists, it must also dazzle with its athletes.” A year after the Olympics in Italy, he stressed: “Our country must be achieved with highly qualified young people.” And he did not stop there: “His government launched a program to build 4,000 gymnasiums, 1,500 swimming pools and 8,000 sports fields,” Le Figaro recalled.
By the way, in 1960, France, which had five precious metals in modest quantities (but not the most valuable), ranked 25th among the participating countries. Czechoslovakia ranked tenth, winning three gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
Look at modern history? Since the beginning of this century, French Olympians have been at the top. Not once have they failed to make the top ten of the most successful nations. Now, the Slovak expedition has brought back a bronze medal from Paris.
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