French fans have finally fallen in love with the Olympic Games

Reuters

<div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Stadiums are packed and crowds are going wild, chanting, applauding, supporting the home team. And the French have also tuned in by the millions to watch the Olympic Games on TV. After months of doom and gloom, Olympic fever has caught on in France.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">On Wednesday (July 31), home fans gathered in Club France to support the French swimming athlete Leon Marchand - 400 meters medley Olympic gold medal winner on Sunday (July 28) - roaring and chanting &quot;Le-on, Le-on,&quot; as he swam the butterfly final.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">French fan Camille Levraud, who came with his two daughters, Lea, 12, and Julie, 8, wouldn&#x27;t have missed it for the world.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;I feel like this is one of the best atmosphere’s there has ever been at an Olympic Games, so we wanted to be here. I wanted to pass on this Olympic flame to my children,&quot; he said.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">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.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">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.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">An uncertain political background and an inconclusive parliamentary election did not help.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">But after a daring open ceremony on the Seine river went ahead without a glitch, despite pouring rain and some controversy in Catholic and right-wing circles, and as French athletes started collecting medal after medal, the mood has lifted.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">With Marchand&#x27;s victory in the butterfly final, France is now third in the Games&#x27; medal table with seven golds, behind China and Japan who have eight each.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Twenty-three million tuned in to watch the opening ceremony in France - more than for matches in the Euro 2024 soccer championship.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">(Production: Marco Trujillo, Sophie Penney, Louise Dalmasso)</span></div>

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French fans have finally fallen in love with the Olympic Games

French fans have finally fallen in love with the Olympic Games

Reuters

Published Aug 02, 2024 09:31 AM PHT

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