The opinions are unanimous: the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games were a success. And Mélina Robert-Michon wouldn’t disagree. Invited to the show “Bartoli Time” on RMC this Sunday, the flag bearer of the French delegation at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games looked back on the momentum that the event had, both for the athletes and the general public.
“When the State and businesses align to help athletes and put them in better training conditions so that they can prepare more calmly, we have seen that it bears fruit. These are things to remember and keep for the future (…) We realized that sport was much more than sport, socially, it is about diversity, about living together. There are so many messages to convey through sport, I hope that sport will find its place in France again and that we stop limiting it to high-level sport and health”, the discus thrower explained in particular.
The 45-year-old Frenchwoman is aware that the challenge now is to keep this flame alive. “We have seen the full extent of what sport can bring and I hope that we will use all of that,” she confides. The President of the Republic already has his own idea: to establish a national sports festival, every September 14 – the date of the “Parade of Champions” -, in a model close to that of the music festival. This “will allow us to restart, for the start of the school year, the practice of sport on a daily basis,” assures Emmanuel Macron in the columns of Le Parisien.
“A celebration for sport, yes, if everything else follows behind”
But the proposal is not unanimous, especially among those most concerned, the athletes. The fencer Enzo Lefort, for example, was not convinced. Mélina Robert-Michon understands this reluctance. “I think the fear is that we will say ‘come on, we will have a sports festival, they will be happy and that will be enough’. Sport must be maintained on a daily basis, through clubs and aid for clubs, all year round,” she argues.
Although athletes have not yet had the opportunity to discuss it with Emmanuel Macron, the Olympic vice-champion in Rio in 2016 is not closing the door to the establishment of such a day. “The idea is good, it’s the start of the school year so it’s an opportunity to highlight clubs for young people who don’t yet know what to do,” she concedes.
“But it mustn’t remain something that happens once a year. Sport is about volunteers, clubs, athletes and that’s what happens all year round. So a celebration for sport, yes, if everything else follows suit. It mustn’t be something to hide the misery,” she warns. In short: to ensure that the boost from the Games doesn’t fade, sport needs a budget that meets its needs.
- RMC Sport
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