Games - D-100

 

Is fractious France ready for an Olympics party?

PARIS (AFP)  – Organisers of the Paris Olympics have promised a “great national party” for the country, but with 100 days to go, France’s bitter politics and gloomy mindset are dampening the mood.

Those involved in the delivery of the Games, particularly chief organiser Tony Estanguet, remain upbeat.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for our country to host this event, to welcome the world and also showcase what this country is about to do and deliver,” he said last week.

However, he admitted he was not surprised to hear complaints and doubts.

“We all know that before this kind of big event, there are always many questions, many concerns,” he added.

The construction work is on track and the budget looks set to be relatively contained compared to the huge blow-outs seen at the Athens, London or Rio de Janeiro Games.

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France President Emmanuel Macron cut a slightly frustrated figure as he inaugurated a new aquatics centre in early April, speaking as if the public and media were not giving organisers enough credit.

“Look at the history of previous Games,” he urged, promising that the Paris edition would make the nation “proud”.

But instead of pride, the build-up has been marred by rows that go to the heart of a bitter national debate about identity and race.

Influential far-right politicians have criticised the official Games poster – a Christian cross was omitted from a depiction of a Paris landmark – as well as the choice of artists for the opening ceremony on July 26.

The prospect of an appearance by Franco-Malian R&B superstar Aya Nakamura caused an uproar among conservatives who criticised her supposed “vulgarity” – something described as “pure racism” by France’s culture minister.

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Herve Le Bras, a veteran sociologist and author of a 2018 book titled “Feeling bad in a France that is doing well”, said he was sceptical that the Olympics could serve as a national celebration.

“There are lots of suggestions that they will underline the major fractures in France – notably the fracture between Paris and the rest of the country,” he said.

Why does the country feel so bad about itself while being among the richest in the world, with one of the most generous social security systems, and a lifestyle that is envied across the globe?

A major survey by the Ipsos group last September found eight out of 10 people thought the country was in decline and nearly one in two said they felt angry and contrarian.

In another era – during the decades of bullish post-war expansion in France, for example – the country might have been more ready to celebrate the Olympics, Le Bras suggests.

“We had a sense then everything was moving in the direction of progress. We’re not in that sort of period now,” he said.

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Jean Viard, another well-known sociologist, believes that the risk of terrorism and wars in Europe and the Middle East are weighing on people’s minds.

“We live in an era where there is the climate danger, the war in Ukraine, the war in Israel,” he said. “People feel like they are surrounded by violence.”

The Olympics are also taking place at a time where the rising cost of living is causing economic hardship, making the often high ticket prices for events hard to stomach.

“You hear the same thing at all levels of society:

 ‘We’re organising a show, we’re paying for it, but we are not able to take part’,” said Paul Dietschy, a sports historian.

Other concerns include the fast-rising public debt – just as new estimates emerge suggesting that taxpayers could end up with an Olympics bill of up to €5 billion (S$7.25 billion).

And the gleaming new Olympic Village has been unveiled at a time when the country faces a housing crisis.

“That makes people uneasy,” Le Bras said. 

AFP