It’s been official since Sunday, August 4. With 44 medals won so far, France, the host country of these Olympic Games, has already broken its post-war medal record. It dates back to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. France won 43 medals at the time.
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To explain this record number of medals, one might think that the public, very fervent since the beginning of the Games, is supporting the French athletes. But if this is true for some, for others, by their own admission, it is the opposite. They are tense, caught up in the event to use the words of Thibaut Collet, eliminated from the pole vault competition in qualifying. We are therefore going to look for more down-to-earth explanations.
The number of athletes making up the delegation is interesting. 323 French people flew to Beijing, for 43 medals. There are 571 representing their country in Paris this summer.
Mathematically, the more there are, the more you can win. Besides, the real medal record of the France at the Summer Olympics actually dates back to the first Games in Paris in 1900: 102 trinkets, 27 of which were gold. But the French delegation then represented more than half of the thousand athletes participating. The size of the team, apparently, matters.
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How far can France hope to go?
Of the 329 events held during the Paris Games, about half have delivered their verdict. So if the French athletes in the second week of events are as prolific as those in the first week with 44 medals already collected, that could make 80. But judo, fencing, swimming, which were providers for the Blues, are over. Athletics, which is taking over in particular, represents much less chance of winning these metallic rewards.
Moreover, this objective of 80 medals was deemed unrealistic and replaced by another: that of being in the top 5 in the medal table. It is even Emmanuel Macronthe French president, who posted it last April.
Will France achieve the goal of a top 5 in the medal table?
It is important to remember that in the medal table, it is the most beautiful of metals that counts first – gold. Over the last four editions of the Summer Olympics, to rank 5th, it was necessary to get closer to 17 Olympic titles.
France has 12 at the halfway point, with fewer chances of gold medals during this second week. But it remains possible. Team sports, which were very successful in Tokyo for the French, are chances of titles. Handball, football and men’s volleyball are the most anticipated.
Boxing, with the two finals coming up on Wednesday and Thursday of Sofiane Oumiha and Billal Bennama, can also keep France in the top 5 in the table. It is third today. But it will be necessary to be efficient and not to miss out like some French favorites in the first week. Women’s judo and team fencing, for example, did not bring back the gold medals that many saw as almost certain.
The record to aim for is perhaps less that of the 43 medals from Beijing 2008 than that of the 15 Olympic titles from Atlanta 1995.
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