I'm in Paris | The French have reason to celebrate for preventing the far right from coming to power and successfully hosting the Olympics
2024-08-12
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Under the brilliant August sunset in Paris, French swimmer Leon Marchand, who won four gold medals in this Olympics, slowly walked towards the Olympic flame burning in the Tuileries Garden. As he raised the lantern that held the Olympic flame, the flame in the main torch slowly went out, and the 2024 Paris Olympics came to a perfect end.
From the opening ceremony on July 26 to the closing ceremony on August 11, France presented the world with a French-style sports feast in three weeks. All the doubts people had about Paris before the Olympics were also broken:
——Is public transportation unable to cope with tourists from all over the world? The subway system in Paris has done its job perfectly. I took my family to various Olympic venues by public transportation without any problems. After August, the temperature in Paris gradually rose, and there were people in the subway who were responsible for distributing free drinking water.
——There are too many thieves in Paris, and there is also a high threat of terrorist attacks? During the Olympics, France mobilized almost all the police forces it could to support Paris, and also invited foreign police to help coordinate security issues related to tourists. I have lived in Paris for four years, and I can say that I have never felt so safe.
On August 11, 2024, the women's marathon of the Paris Olympics was held in Paris, and the runners passed by the Louvre. Visual China Photo
-- Are the French incapable of organizing major sports events? Will the chaos of the Champions League final be repeated everywhere? More than 40,000 volunteers performed their tasks perfectly. All the major Olympic venues that I visited were in good order.
The only drawback may be the water quality of the Seine River.
From beach volleyball under the Eiffel Tower, to equestrianism at the Palace of Versailles, fencing and taekwondo at the Grand Palais, archery at the Invalides, to the road cycling race that brings back memories of the Tour de France, France has presented Paris to audiences and tourists around the world without reservation. The French have not only proved to the world that they can successfully host an Olympic Games, but also completed their spiritual redemption in this Olympic Games.
Paris opens its arms to the world
Designing the Olympic torch as a hot air balloon, letting it float in the night sky of Paris every night and illuminating the French capital during the grand event is probably an idea that only the French can come up with.
Paris has set up many public viewing spots throughout the city. On August 11, at a community viewing spot in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, I watched the breathtaking women's basketball final with my French friends and fellow citizens.
Like many of my compatriots, I have never supported the French women's basketball team so much in my life. Although France lost to the United States by one point in the end, this empathy with the French athletes is also the biggest impression left on me by the Paris Olympics.
During the Olympics, the volunteers, staff and venue DJs I met turned Paris into the hottest party spot in the world this summer. Tourists may not speak French, but they feel the open arms of Paris.
The closing ceremony ended with the famous song "My Way" by American jazz legend Frank Sinatra. With fireworks over the Stade de France, French singer Yeult sang the theme of the Paris Olympics:
"Time has proven that I have withstood the hardships and persisted in my path."
“Yes, this is my path.”
The spiritual salvation of the French
Just as the Beijing Olympics are to us, 2024 will remain long in the collective memory of the French.
"I want to give the French people a reason to celebrate." The mayor of Paris once told the author at a lunch at the City Hall that the 2015 Paris terrorist attack was the reason why she was determined to win the right to host the Olympic Games.
French society has been in a state of confusion since 2015. French President Emmanuel Macron finally managed to reduce government debt, improve finances, and improve the economy, but then the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent conflict between Russia and Ukraine plunged the French economy into a difficult situation.
In June 2024, Macron dissolved parliament, and for a whole month, everyone thought that the far-right party would historically come to power. Although the French people later blocked the far-right party from the door of power, France's suspended parliament also means that France has not yet gotten rid of unstable politics.
It was in this chaos that Paris welcomed the Olympic Games, and the result was enough to make all French people proud.
Facing the American men's and women's basketball teams that dominated the Olympic Games, the French team fought hard in the final. Especially facing the American women's basketball team that had never lost in the Olympic Games since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the French did not back down and fought to the end but lost by one point. This also kept the suspense of who would be the first in the gold medal list until the last moment.
After the game, my French friend even apologized to me jokingly: "I'm sorry, the Americans overtook you in the end."
France finally ranked fifth in the gold medal table, first among European countries, and fourth in the total number of medals. This is an excellent result that France has never achieved in a hundred years. The host country broke almost all its own records in this Olympics. It completed the spiritual redemption of the French. "We kept the extreme right out, and now we have such a beautiful Olympics. Tonight we can all be proud of France." My French friend said this after the closing ceremony.
(Xu Xiaofei, graduated from Columbia University School of Journalism, currently lives in Paris)
The Paper special correspondent Xu Xiaofei
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