The list of critiques of the Paris 2024 organizing committee are mounting. The water quality in the Seine. The quality of the opening ceremony (which has been in part overblown because of confusion over whether one scene was “The Feast of the Gods” or “The Last Supper,” with it seemingly a more direct portrayal of the former than the latter). A shallow, slow pool. Lack of food in the dining halls. Long trips on hot busses to the venue.
But in this article, I’m going to hand out some flowers, specifically to the French fans, who have brought electricity and thunder to the Olympic Games throughout the first three days.
As I write this, I am watching South Korea and France trade bullseyes in the men’s team archery final with a level of crowd energy that rivals anything I’ve ever seen in sports. A roar for every arrow. Flags. Painted faces. Dancing.
La Defense arena was chanting and cheering for Leon Marchand on Sunday evening with energy that even some of the great moments of swimming history haven’t been able to match. The crowds were so lit up that Marchand’s name was chanted at the table tennis venue roughly 10 miles away.
Venues have been packed to the gills, fans have been engaged, and every moment has been given the respect it’s due; and by respect I mean fervored passion. A new all-time all-venues record was set on day 1 of women’s rugby with 66,000 people turning out, one of many packed houses around the city this week.
France’s quality has helped. Through two-and-a-half days of competition, France already has 3 gold medals and 10 total medals (well ahead of their 10/33 pace from Tokyo).
Pauline Ferrand Prevot won women’s mountain biking, they won the first big team gold medal in men’s rugby 7s, and of course Marchand’s dominating 400 IM victory.
They also have medals in judo (1 silver, 2 bronze) and fencing (2 silvers): sports where France is historically strong. The schedule was set up well for early French success.
This is not a big surprise. Anybody who has ever been to a sporting event in France knows that their fans are highly-engaged. Last fall, I attended a Ligue 1 soccer match in Rennes, in a giant stadium, and that was crazy as expected. But I also attended a volleyball match at Plessis-Robinson in a small suburb south of France in what was more of a local rec center than a big-time sporting stadium. The capacity was 495, and there were at least that many, with a mascot and full concessions and a PA announcer leading the crowd. It was also a fully-engaged crowd giving full heart, and full throat, to every point.
French sport reminds me of my time at Texas A&M, a school that was famous at the time (through culture and through bribery) for the organization of its cheering and its support of more minor sports.
This has not been a perfect Olympic Games, and the history books will have many lessons for future organizers, but on balance, the French people are carrying a gigantic flame where there organizers have been busy putting out fires.
It’s good that the fans care and have brought energy, many other factors are off compared to recent Olympics.
This has to be the worst infrastructure for an Olympics since the Rio games where a group of athletes was forced to urinate on the side of the road due to lack of proper restrooms.