Saint-Denis, France – French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned Thursday he hoped the 2024 Paris Olympics would give an enormous increase to participation in sports activities in France.
“The intention is just not merely to get medals, will probably be to place sport on the coronary heart of the nation,” Macron mentioned, as he visited Olympic constructing websites and current sports activities services in northern Paris.
Macron mentioned €200 million ($232 million) of funding could be made out there to create as much as 5,000 new sports activities services for public use by the point of the Video games.
Macron, who’s extensively anticipated to hunt re-election subsequent yr, was criticized for feedback he made after this yr’s Tokyo Olympics when he urged French opponents to win “many extra” medals in 2024 than the 33 they gained in Japan.
That haul, which included 10 gold medals, was 9 fewer than France gained on the 2016 Rio Video games.
The president says France ought to intention to complete among the many prime 5 nations within the medal desk on the Paris Olympics — in Tokyo France was eighth in gold medals however tenth in whole medals gained.
“We took inventory and went once more,”he mentioned. “That’s what each coach does daily with their crew, it’s what high-level sport is all about. I didn’t see many athletes shaken by what I mentioned.”
In a time of each misinformation and an excessive amount of info, high quality journalism is extra essential than ever.
By subscribing, you may assist us get the story proper.
PHOTO GALLERY (CLICK TO ENLARGE)
