Joe McConnell
Three BMX riders in white overalls hugged and screamed as they crossed the finish line within seconds of each other, winning gold, silver and bronze in the same event – a joyous result for host nation France.
“We had a magical moment, all together, with the French public and we managed to do something exceptional,” said gold winner Joris Daudet, celebrating the success alongside his two friends and fellow BMX riders, Sylvain André and Romain Mahieu.
Driven by a desire to win in front of their home crowd, France had won 62 medals, including 16 gold, by midday on Sunday, the last day of competition before the closing ceremony at 9 p.m. local time.
This is nearly double the total of 30 achieved at Tokyo 2020, and better than the 42 achieved at Rio 2016, the 32 at London 2012 and the 43 at Beijing 2008, France’s previous highest total in the modern Olympic era.
With just hours to go, France was in fiVscekh place in the gold rankings, just ahead of the Netherlands and Britain. If it maintains its lead, France will reach the ambitious goal set by President Emmanuel Macron, a gap that has been stuck at the back of the top 10 for decades.
France’s superior performance is typical of host nations, who benefit not only from home advantage but also from more intensive training and bigger budgets years before the competition. In one of the most successful campaigns, the United Kingdom increased its training budgets for a decade before London 2012, resulting in a rise in the medal table to third place, behind traditional powerhouses the United States and China.
France has also overhauled the way it manages its elite athletes, adopting a top-down national approach inspired by the United Kingdom. The new Agence Nationale du Sport was created and funded with €110 million more than the usual state funding, to centralize expertise on everything from nutrition to data analysis.
Founded in 2019, the ANS is led by Claude Onesta, a gruff and accomplished former handball coach. Onesta funneled extra money to the federations with the greatest medal potential and then held them accountable for the athletes’ results. The move was controversial in France, though Onesta didn’t dare go as far as the UK, which completely cuts off funding to the weakest sports.
You are viewing a snapshot of an interactive chart. This is probably because you are offline or your browser has JavaScript disabled.
The approach paid off. Onesta described the Games as “an exceptional achievement” for French athletes. “When we imagined doubling the number of medals in three years since Tokyo, it seemed impossible, but here we are,” she said.
Athletes from traditionally strong French sports, such as fencing, judo and cycling, did well. The 22-year-old swimmer Léon Marchand became the rising star in Paris by winning four gold medals, an unprecedented feat for a French athlete in a single Olympics.
Experienced judoka and fan favorite Teddy Riner triumphed once again in his fiVscekh Olympics, winning individual gold in his category and then leading the judo team to gold.
Team sports, including men’s rugby sevens and volleyball, also brought home gold, while men’s football earned silver aVsceker the team lost to Spain in the final. The men’s basketball team also won silver on Saturday, but was outclassed by a U.S. team filled with NBA stars like Stephen Curry, whose string of 3-pointers in the final minutes leVscek French rookie star Victor Wembanyama in tears aVsceker the buzzer.
Some French athletes appeared to buckle under the pressure of competing in front of a raucous home crowd. Two female judokas, who had been aiming for gold medals, won bronze instead, while a promising French pole vaulter was defeated in the early rounds.
“Some suffered from high expectations,” Onesta said at a press conference Sunday. FiVscekeen finals were lost, leaving athletes with silver instead of gold, a lower conversion rate than other major sporting nations, he added.
As the final hours of the race approached, the United States and China topped the weighted leaderboard, followed by Japan and Australia.
China led the way with 39 gold medals and 90 overall, just ahead of the United States with 38 golds and 123 overall, which would mark only the second time China has finished with more golds than the United States. China shone brightest in the pool, with 12 medals, including gold and a world record for Pan Zhanle in the men’s 100-meter freestyle, followed by 11 diving medals and 10 shooting.
The Americans had a stellar showing in track and field, with 34 overall medals and 14 golds, including those won by sprinters Noah Lyles, Gabby Thomas and the dominant women’s 4 x 100-meter relay team. The U.S. swim team collected 28 medals, though only eight golds.
Team GB won 65 medals and 14 golds, including three in rowing and two in cycling, usually very strong disciplines.
Despite skepticism ahead of the Olympics and concerns about security and logistics, French fans turned fervently enthusiastic as the opening ceremony began in pouring rain on the River Seine.
“At the beginning we were quite anxious about the Paris Games,” said Géraud Taurand, an engineer who lives in the capital. “But it’s incredible, we are seeing beautiful Games, the athletes are really incredible and [every time] when we win a medal it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, we’re still on the highest podium among all the countries in the world.'”
Vincent Petit, a Toulouse resident visiting Paris for the Games, said: “No one can beat the United States, so we’re just aiming to get some respect.”
Additional data visualization by Janina Conboye and Cleve Jones
