A huge popular success in the capital, the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games were followed, according to the International Olympic Committee, by nearly five billion people around the world. The French sports community hoped to benefit from the success of the Games, both in terms of public sports policies and the highlighting of certain disciplines. However, four months after the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, the time is rather for disenchantment.
The festive atmosphere seems far away: fireworks extinguished, cauldron dismantled, Olympic and Paralympic symbols taken down and smiles gone. Announced cuts in the budget of public actors, the material inability of clubs to welcome new licensees, the post-Games period, supposed to open up prospects, leaves only a bitter taste in the mouth of Philippe Bana, the president of the French Football Federation. handball. “ The post-Olympic should be, not enchanted, we must not dream, but we expected three million participants, security and above all an awareness that sport is one of the rare things in French society that can produce education, society, bringing people together, deplores Philippe Bana. And you don’t talk about that behind. People really need to realize that this thing can help France not to sink. »
Not sunk, but already well touched: the system of two additional hours of sport at college tested in the context of Olympic Games to combat the sedentary lifestyle of teenagers will only apply to priority education areas. A bad signal for the Olympic saber champion Manon Apithy-Brunet : “ Sport is good for mental health, but also for physical health, recalls the champion. So, to tell me that we are gradually eliminating that… We already have problems with screens, so if we don’t open up the sporting side to young people, what will we become? late ? I thought that these Olympic Games would show great values and ultimately, we showed them, but we are not necessarily hanging on. So that makes me a little sad. »
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Sponsors’ budgets down sharply
For the medalists, reaping the rewards of glory will not be easy. Paris 2024 has dried up sponsor budgetsbecome more selective. If Léon Marchand, Teddy Riner or the Lebrun brothers have little to fear, Nicolas Gestin, who won gold in canoeing, is dreading the period: “ For a somewhat minor sport like canoeing, it’s always special to find companies ready to continue the adventure with me and also still benefit a little from the medal, which offers me some opportunities to find greater support. financial. Because on top of that, my seasons will cost me, quote, more because I have every interest in being supported more than I was before. So there you have it, there’s work to be done and that’s the crux of the matter over the next few months. »
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And the situation risks being even more delicate for para-sportspeople. Swimmer Alex Portal fears opportunism and lack of follow-up from partners. “ Some wanted to say, we want to support para athletes, and those who withdraw after the Games, that shows a side that is a little unhealthy, I find, deplores the athlete. Finally, what was it for? Was it really human behind all this? So, there we are, we are happy with those who continue to push in this direction, because in the para, there is not necessarily money, but in any case, it is by making these efforts that, perhaps one day, we will have recognition, like in the Olympic Games. »
If the most lasting aspect of the Games remains for the moment the construction or renovation of infrastructure, the sports movement is now expecting much more, starting with a real “legacy” law to honor all the promises of a great summer .
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