“When we distribute the prizes, sarcasm must be restrained and, only praise has a voice. It has been said and repeated so much: ‘The Olympic Games will be an oven’; these Games had such bad press, that in fact they did not obtain the success of which they were worthy. That Colombes was far away, that the railway prices were exaggerated, that the organization was not impeccable, were these sufficient reasons to boycott them in this way? No , a thousand times no. There were moving fights, shows of great beauty; a lot of world records fell; the large crowd did not bother. Too bad for her.”
We feel he is severe, the daily journalist The Press, when he signed this article on July 28, 1924 covering the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games. Severe but above all bitter, he who, three weeks earlier, wrote with emphasis: “Let us be proud that these eighth Olympic Games are taking place here, in our beautiful country of France, in our unique capital in the world”.
A century later, it is not too late to rediscover this pride, and in the process to mute the sarcasm that is so easy to utter and in which our country so loves to wallow. Because the Olympic and Paralympic Games are both a popular celebration and a boost, for the 16 million visitors, the 15,000 athletes and the 4 billion viewers expected. A sports festival, but also a French festival, the success of which is still obviously too early to guarantee, but has been carefully prepared for many years. Beyond the medals and records, these 2024 summer Games also constitute tremendous leverage for France. In terms of radiation, economic and ecological modernization, inclusion, hosting the largest global sporting event is a powerful accelerator of transformation. The grumpy people will retort that if France needs bread, it could easily do without the Games. This is to forget the strength of the appointment set seven years ago for France: being ready on time requires the country to surpass itself. That’s what he’s done pretty well so far, and that’s what he’s going to continue to do over the next six months.
Others are already thinking about the post-Olympic hangover, muttering “All that for that”. You have to not like sport, and even less like challenges. Refuse to see the incredible ripple effect in terms of activity and employment of the Olympic Games, the first to have a social charter. Security, transport, urban travel, accommodation, the hazards of a completely unprecedented opening ceremony: there remain, it is true, a thousand reasons for concern to be resolved before July 26. Above all, it is a historic opportunity for France that it will take on with panache. Remembering the words of John Fitzgerald Kennedy in September 1962, when he promised to send a man to the Moon before the end of the decade, “not because it is easy, but because it is difficult”.
.