Nearly a week after the official attribution of the Olympics 2024 in Paris, the French Sports Minister, Laura Flessel, announces the establishment of a Sport Festival every September 13.
As she announced that a reflection was already underway with the French sports movement and with the local authorities, the Sports Minister said in a statement the modalities of this annual event.
The « Fête du Sport » will bring together « all the French people around the values of the sport […] and will particularly sensitize the public furthest from the sport practice around the benefits of the sport.
[…] If we want to organize popular games, and if we want to make France a great sports nation, we must train all French people in this beautiful dynamic ».
In order to give a greater dimension to this initiative, Laura Flessel will present the Sports Festival project at the European Council in Brussels on November 20.
The announcement of the celebration of Sport Festival 13 September 13 comes at the same time as the implementation of a reflection on high performance.
Guest of the Sunday TV program « Stade 2 », the Minister has announced that a mission entrusted to Claude Onesta.
The former coach of the France handball team (2001-2016), now the general manager, will lead the mission with the aim of achieving the installation of a new model for the detection and training of high-level athletes.
The objective of the Ministry of Sports is ambitious on the issue, Laura Flessel wishing to double the number of medals of the team of France at the Paris 2024 Games compared to the countdown posted at the Rio 2016 Games.
Last year, the French team was reminded of 42 medals from Brazil, including 10 Olympic titles.
However, in order to achieve such a result, major efforts will have to be made to detect and train athletes, as well as to revamp the governance of the tricolor sports model.
France could therefore turn to its European neighbors to draw inspiration, notably through the actions carried out in the United Kingdom.
In 2004, the latter had gleaned 30 medals at the Athens Games. This figure was then increased to 47 during the Beijing 2008 Games, before reaching the threshold of 65 medals for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Last year in Rio, British athletes had won 67 medals, the highest since the London Games in 1908, during which Her Majesty’s subjects had gleaned 146 medals in an Olympic configuration far removed from current standards.
The pursuit of high performance should not, however, lead to a weakening of policies in favor of sport-leisure and sport-health.
For although these two elements are not synonymous with Olympic medals, they are nonetheless an indicator of the sporting dynamics of a country.
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