After slow build-up, France has caught Olympic fever
Stadiums are packed. Crowds are going wild, chanting, applauding, supporting the home team. And the French also tune in by the millions to watch the Games on TV. After months of doom and gloom, Olympic fever has caught on in France.
“My God. It’s crazy,” Manon Apithy-Brunet said of the fan support after winning gold in the women’s sabre individual competition at the Grand Palais, in the heart of Paris.
“I was like, ‘OK, take it in, because it’s crazy. Just enjoy’,” she said after a spontaneous rendition of La Marseillaise, the national anthem, broke out among the crowd.
There had been few signs of enthusiasm over recent months, when concerns were rife among the French over whether Paris, and the whole country, would be ready for the Games.
In the French capital, complaining about security risks and Olympics-related construction work while talking about leaving the city for the Games were much more common than enthusiasm for the event, Parisians say.
An uncertain political background and an inconclusive parliamentary election did not help.
But after a daring open ceremony on the Seine river went ahead without a glitch, despite pouring rain, and as French athletes started collecting medal after medal, the mood has lifted.
“Everything is better since the opening ceremony,” 42-year-old make-up artist Elodie Gintte said as she watched the Olympic cauldron. “Of course the French grumbled a lot before, but it’s normal that the French complain!”
Also watching the unusual Olympic cauldron, 27-year-old accountant Ines Barthelemy concurred.
“With inflation, the political situation, the elections, it was difficult and tense and there with the (opening) ceremony we had a good time, we could watch it at home, it was for everyone and in Paris, it’s rare. And we have French medals every day!”
French athletes are riding a wave of national fervour – even if it’s almost too much at times.
“I was trying to focus on myself, but it’s really hard when 15,000 people are cheering for me,” French swimming star Leon Marchand said after winning gold in the men’s 400m individual medley final at Paris La Defense Arena on Sunday.
Nearly 10 million, or just over one in seven French people, watched him win on TV.
After watching the rugby sevens games, Florence Maillard, her cheeks painted in France’s blue, white and red tricolour, was enthusiastic.
“Everyone seems happy, it’s such a party! Even the police smile! People are getting together, France is beautiful and how good is it, let’s stop French-bashing!” she said.
Twenty-three million tuned in to watch the opening ceremony in France, more than for matches in the recent Euro 2024 soccer championship.
“It’s amazing,” France sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said. “And it’s not over.”
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