Paris 2024: The holistic impact of Olympics

The Paris Games are set to provide excitement and achievements that will have a lasting impact beyond just sports

PESHAWAR:

What is most awaited about the Paris Olympics, drawing near from 26th July to 11th August, is not only the return of twenty-eight familiar disciplines but also the unveiling of four new entries.

The upcoming games, which will be held after the Tokyo Summer Olympics that were postponed to 2021 due to the worldwide pandemic caused by the coronavirus, will offer a chance for sports climbing, skateboarding, surfing, and breaking. Modern sports have been embraced while tradition has been respected by adding some events in Olympic competitions.

These events are anticipated with great excitement as they are expected to produce moments of ecstasy beyond the playing field.

Preparing to host the upcoming Olympic Games, French organizers are ambitiously aiming to embed and sustain a profound cultural transformation within the nation.

This initiative not only emphasizes aspects such as security, hospitality, crowd control, and infrastructure but also holds potential lessons for businesses looking to achieve lasting organizational change.

While the Paris 2024 Games are contributing to peace, they are changing cultural views. Everyone knows France for its great food, great art, and great fashion — but not great sports, at least not traditionally.

In recent years, the French people have worked very hard to adapt their culture and way of life to be more conducive to a sports-friendly society. French teams and athletes have no shortage of global success, winning the prestigious FIFA World Cup in 1998 and 2018, the women’s Eurobasket in 2001 and 2009, and gold medals in handball at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In 2023, France finished second in the Greatest Sporting Nation rankings for the year. The change was not immediate. A complete shocker took place after an Olympic crisis of unprecedented proportions in 1960 when France’s feeble Rome Olympic debut, broadcast directly on television screens, garnered the not-so-stunning sum of five medals, none of them gold.

It was a national humiliation that so incensed President Charles de Gaulle that he viewed it as an insult and a slight on the prestige of a now diminished France on the world stage. France itself was struggling then to emerge from the Cold War, decolonise, and meet the challenge of a youth bulge and waves of an immigrant population. Sport was considered something that might help lift national morale and bring these new inhabitants into the fold.

The government realized that showing the competitive comebacks of the French could be incredibly helpful in reintroducing this nation. In order to boost this vision, considerable legislative measures were introduced.

INSEP, the National Sports Institute, was established in 1975 by the monumental Mazeaud Law for elite athletes to combine their education with training. This law marked sports’ growth as an indispensable aspect of French culture and a responsibility of the state on a national level.

It became even more evident with the 1984 Avice Law, which pronounced physical activity and sport to be integral components needed by every citizen to ensure personal welfare. One of the biggest reforms was investment in youth sports development.

In the mid-1970s, the French Football Federation (FFF) and professional clubs established a national program to identify and train promising young players. This program enabled talented youngsters to play at a high level while continuing their education.

This approach began to pay off in the 1980s, leading to great success in football, culminating in winning the 1998 World Cup on home soil. Other sports, such as basketball, found international success in the late 1990s and early 2000s, shaping this youth development program.

As the 2024 Olympics approach, there is hope that this event will cement sports as a key aspect of French cultural identity. The ongoing efforts to build a sporting culture reflect the broader challenge of cultural integration, illustrating that substantial change requires both institutional support and grassroots enthusiasm.

As Pakistan deals with its own set of challenges, including environmental issues, lack of participation in sports, and the need for improved athlete development programs, the Paris Olympics presents a unique opportunity for the country to gather valuable insights and emulate best practices. One of the most distinctive features of the Paris Olympics is its relentless focus on sustainability. The organizers have prioritized the integration of sustainable infrastructure, waste management, and renewable energy to make it the most environmentally conscious Games to date.

Pakistan can draw inspiration from these efforts as it faces major environmental problems and find innovative solutions to meet its environmental challenges.

In the age of technology, the Paris Olympic Games are set to embrace groundbreaking developments to enhance the event experience. From streamlined ticketing systems to sophisticated player performance analytics tools, technology is poised to play a vital role in improving overall match efficiency and participant experience.

By looking at how technology is seamlessly integrated into sports, Pakistan can learn valuable lessons in implementing digital solutions to improve its sporting environment. Pakistan can endeavor to embed a culture of physical fitness and well-being across its citizenry.

By meticulously analyzing the output of top-tier athletes and discerning best practices, Pakistan can refine its athlete development programs and cultivate future sports luminaries equipped with the requisite skills and support to thrive on the global stage.

The Paris 2024 Games encompass a significance surpassing merely that of a worldwide athletic event; they serve as an embodiment of a nation’s capacity to emerge from adversity, undergo a process of self-reinvention, and endeavor to establish a persistent legacy intended for succeeding generations.

The writer is a Peshawar-based foreign affairs commentator. He can be reached at [e-mail].