France leaves with 14 medals, including 5 gold. The president of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games organizing committee salutes Quentin Fillon Maillet, “an exceptional athlete”.
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“There are some disappointments but you have to remember the positive, because the positive is still magic”such is the assessment of Tony Estanguet, the president of the organizing committee of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Sunday February 20 on franceinfo, while Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics have ended.
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French athletes return with a total of 14 medals, including five gold.Tony Estanguet greets Quentin Fillon Maillet, “an exceptional athlete”. “All eyes will be on Paris” next week, he said. “We will pass into a new stature.”
Did the French succeed in these games in Beijing?
Tony Estanguet: We vibrated. These French athletes entertained us. We have seen very good medals, whether in biathlon, alpine skiing, dance, cross-country skiing. I found medals with a lot of emotion and an exceptional athlete, Quentin Fillon Maillet. It’s absolutely historic to have a French athlete who manages to bring back five medals in the same Olympiad. Afterwards, as with all editions of the Games, there are also some disappointments. But you have to remember the positive, because the positive is still magic.
For Paris 2024, several French people are arriving at the IOC, David Lappartient, president of the International Cycling Union, Martin Fourcade, elected for eight years to the IOC Athletes’ Commission. Is it important in view of the Games in Paris?
Yes it’s important. This shows that France is a country that counts in the international sports movement. The dynamics of the Paris 2024 Games are appealing. And inevitably, it helps to strengthen the influence of France internationally. That’s very good news. Whether it’s Martin Fourcade or David Lappartient, these are two characters who have really done a lot in recent years as an athlete, as a leader, who have real expertise, but also a real sense of commitment. It is very good news for the IOC to have its two new French members in its ranks.
As a former athlete, isn’t it too complicated to meet all the requirements of the athletes while ensuring the proper organization of the Games?
Of course there are a lot of challenges. Martin Fourcade, I proposed to him in 2018 to become president of the Paris 2024 Athletes’ Commission, which is made up of Olympic and Paralympic athletes from different disciplines, to advise the Organizing Committee on the success of the Games. And inevitably, we, as organizers, must coordinate the involvement of public actors, the involvement of companies that finance the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games, the involvement of federations and athletes. So, it’s quite exciting, because a project of such magnitude requires coordinating all these different parties.
Will the feedback from Beijing be useful to you for the organization of the Games in Paris?
We really are THE next edition of the Games. So all eyes will be on Paris, on France, on Paris 2024. We will welcome 206 countries. These 206 countries, as of next week, will ask many questions, how they will be welcomed, how they will have to prepare. All the international federations, after having finished their various games, whether those in Tokyo or those in Beijing, will really focus on preparing for Paris 2024. So we are going to move on to a new stage. Inevitably, there are many international players who will ask us a lot.