The end of Olympic escapism for gloomy France

The end of the much-vaunted Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris this weekend will be greeted with pride and relief, but also with concern, in a country in deep political crisis.

After months of gloom and doubt leading up to the start of the Olympic Games on July 26, Paris and the country as a whole embraced the spirit of the Games, embracing new national sporting heroes along the way.

The closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games on Sunday, when the Olympic flame is extinguished for the final time, marks the end of six weeks of thrilling sport and near-flawless organisation that created a sense of escape from the country’s divisions and misery.

“The idea is to end with a big party, so that the tears of those who say to themselves ‘damn it, it’s all over’ no longer flow,” said chief organizer Tony Estanguet ahead of a ceremony that will see the national stadium transformed into a giant nightclub.

“We’re going to have a party and then we might be disappointed on Monday because it’s really over,” he added.

More than 20 top French DJs, from the legend of the ‘French touch’ Cassius to Martin Solveig, will close the Games, with a line-up led by 76-year-old French electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre.

“I think we will all feel a sense of joy and pride, the feeling that something is ending that has allowed us to feel good together and show the world how to enjoy ourselves,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told reporters on Friday.

“I will fight against the idea that we have to move on after this enchanted period to resume our lives and our sad passions,” she added.

Political instability

She was referring to the gloomy national mood ahead of the Olympics, which was exacerbated by snap parliamentary elections called by President Emmanuel Macron, which led to a deadlocked parliament in June.

After more than 50 days without a permanent government, including the entire Olympic period, Macron appointed a new prime minister on Thursday: the 73-year-old former minister and top EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.

Analysts say the country is heading for a period of serious instability, with Barnier’s grip on power seen as fragile and dependent on the tacit support of the far-right Rassemblement National party, the largest party in the new National Assembly.

“One of the positive aspects of the Games was that the political class respected the idea of ​​an Olympic truce,” Paul Dietschy, professor of history and sport at the University of Franche-Comté in France, told AFP.

“There was no chaos, no demonstrations or strikes, and France’s image has only improved,” he said.

Other non-events during the Olympic and Paralympic Games were also cause for celebration.

French security forces helped ensure the safety of the more than 10 million visitors and prevent a feared terrorist attack.

Paris’s creaking metro system functioned efficiently, defying all predictions for public transportation problems, while bus drivers, garbage collectors, and city officials kept the city moving, clean, and organized.

“The state is powerful in France and everything went well,” Dietschy added. “The success of the event has contradicted France’s pessimism and cynicism and the idea that everything is bad and badly organized.”

‘Powerful emotions’

While Mayor Hidalgo hopes the city and all of France can bask in the afterglow of a national victory, most observers see signs that the country has already moved on from its sports-inspired break with reality.

Hidalgo’s controversial proposal to keep the Olympic logo on the Eiffel Tower until the next edition in Los Angeles in 2028 has already divided Parisians and local lawmakers.

“It will remain an intermezzo, moments of strong emotions that were experienced at the time,” Jean-Daniel Levy, an opinion expert at polling firm Harris Interactive, told AFP of the Olympic and Paralympic periods.

As with all previous Olympiads, the organizers are hoping for performances that in the past have often been difficult to measure or fleeting.

It remains to be seen whether a short-term increase in interest in sports will lead to a lasting increase in physical activity.

Most of the government investment related to the Games is focused on revitalizing the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb northeast of Paris, the poorest and most crime-ridden area on the mainland.

“We will have to wait and see,” Dietschy told AFP.

A public inquiry into the cost of the Games, as well as several criminal investigations into members of the organizing committee, including one focused on the salary of the Games’ director, Estanguet, could also tarnish the event’s image as a national success story.