“Paris was magical ” exclaims The Sunday Tribunewho hopes that France will know ” keep the flame alive », ” cThis enchanted parenthesis will have » we are told, “ does good to everyone ». Tony Estanguet, the head of the organizing committee, is all smiles. “Public and private actors, the sporting world, everyone really played the game ” he says. “But the little extra soul is beautiful, and we didn’t control that, so thank you, French people! »
For The Sunday Journal, France went “until the end of the dream “, while‘Today in France Sunday greet him “final bouquet” » : “the historic coronation of volleyball players andAlthéa Laurin, in taekwondowhich allows France to beat its record for the number of gold medals ».
“This Sunday morning, it is a melancholic farewell song that floats in the air », adds Today in Franceafter recalling that Johnny Hallyday’s hit “Que je t’aime” ” is sung after each French victory “. ” Paris “, the newspaper adds, is preparing to lower the curtain on the Games that have transformed the city into a huge choir. From the stadiums to the pools, from the podiums to the stands, rarely has France sung so much with one voice ».
Moment of grace
The weeklies are not left out. The Point makes its front page with Léon Marchand, a young blond man with a quiet smile, 22 years old, and already four Olympic gold medals around his neck. The Point who marvels at this France “ who believes in her “. “A resplendent capital, enthusiastic spectators, exceptional performances… Have the French rediscovered the joy of living? ” asks the weekly, which has opened its columns to four writers, including Pascal Bruckner, who is also amazed: “France is experiencing an unexpected moment of grace ” he said, “while many predicted the worst, arguing over logistical problems and getting annoyed by transport disruptions. But we had planned for everything, anticipated everything. Everything, except success. »
For Daniel Rondeau, also a writer and “boxing fan” “, we are told, “It’s the dreamers who won “. “A grain of madness told them that they had to transform the city into a playground for champions, and they did it. Montmartre, Versailles, the Invalides, the Seine and the Eiffel Tower became the natural setting for an incredible Olympic park. »
Olympic Bubble
And yet the context did not seem favourable. A resigning government, a political impasse… before the Games, France was doing rather badly.
THE New Obs recalls it and rejoices in this “Fervor found a few weeks after being torn apart during the dissolution of the National Assembly ». The weekly also welcomes this “a nation that rediscovers a taste for others and welcomes the world with open arms, after having almost brought the extreme right to power “The historian Pascal Blanchard speaks of a “enchanted parenthesis” “, “which was manifested in recent days by the selfie of the South and North Korean table tennis players. Anything can happen in the Games ” he said. “But let’s not be under any illusions, this Olympic bubble only lasts two weeks. »
The Express explains to us elsewhere “Why the Olympics will not change the French ». “Alas “, laments the weekly, “The Olympic Games are often only a truce in the history of the host country. Let us therefore predict that after this enchanted interlude, France will quickly return to its political turpitudes, to its allergy to heads that stick out as well as to its pessimistic inclinations. »
“Let us not disdain this popular communion, which will have made us forget the setbacks of everyday life ” adds Marianne, however, but “It is not Teddy Riner’s victory that will restore luster to the course ofEmmanuel Macroneven though the latter made a big deal out of being in the photo. The last medal awarded, he will have to come back down to earth and assume the aftermath of a double electoral disaster, of which he is the first actor and the first victim ” concludes Marianne.
Summer 1998
Would the head of state therefore not have nothing to hope for from the Olympics ? THE New Obs ironizes on the question. “Nothing surprising ” he said, “that Emmanuel Macron has launched himself, not into a race for medals but for medalists, to recover a little of the light projected on them ». “Of course “, adds the weekly, “The head of state has in mind the memory of the summer of 1998 and the victory at the Football World Cup. That summer, the popularity ratings of Jacques Chirac and Lionel Jospin had exploded by 10 points. »
“So, same story in 2024? ” asks the New Obs. “That would be forgetting ” he replies, “that this “World Cup effect” had quickly faded, that the image of a France “black-white-beur” pacified had quickly collapsed ” and that four years later, the leader of the extreme right Jean-Marie Le Pen arrived at the “second round of the presidential election ».
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