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Last Updated On: May 03, 2025 11:18 AM , Published On: Nov 11, 2024 09:17 AM
French MPs feel hopeless about a declining sports budget, swimmer Florent Manaudou is depressed, and the Eiffel Tower no longer has its Olympic rings. Two months after the glories of the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris were lit, the French capital is suffering from post-Games depression.
Four-time gold medallist swimming sensation Leon Marchand is still making waves in pools all over the world. His partner, Manaudou, has found it challenging to adjust to daily life.
Leon Marchand Statements
The 33-year-old Marchand was the first person to carry the Olympic torch on French land. He also won two bronze medals in the Paris pool but wants to move on.
Leon Marchand said:
“It’s been very difficult emotionally since the end of the Games,”
“All of them keep throwing me back in. It's perfectly normal, and I don't blame anyone, but I want to go on. I don't want to spend months and months trapped in August 2024.”
Olympics Venue Updates
The temporary Olympic venues in the capital are nearly finished being taken down. The Eiffel Tower's Olympic rings and the Tuileries Gardens' flying cauldron, which have proven so popular, have been removed and are looking for a new location.
The Palace of Versailles' grounds, which needed major repairs to accommodate the equestrian competitions, won't be fully repaired until the beginning of next year. The main headquarters of the local organizing committee in Saint-Denis has been shut down, and the group has relocated to smaller facilities north of Paris.
However, its president, Tony Estanguet, is still working hard, and estimates of whether the budget exceeded US$4.8 billion will be released next month.
Missing of Money from the Budget
The government has not yet made the total amount of the most recent public expenses, including police officer bonuses, public. Charles de Courson, France's general budget rapporteur, estimated on Thursday that €1.9 billion was missing from the budget.
Laurent Saint-Martin, the Minister Delegate for the Budget and Public Accounts, replied that the amount was an additional expense spent employing staff from the defense and interior ministries.
Reduction in Sports finance
One former elected official maintained, "Everyone will say...it cost more than expected, but given the image we left, it is well worth this excess."
French GDP benefited from more spending during the Olympics, as seen by the country's 0.4% economic growth during the July–September quarter.
On the other hand, nearly all stakeholders are upset about the 2025 reduction in sports financing due to a decline in state resources. Jean-Claude Raux, an ecological lawmaker, enquired:
"What's left of the 'great sporting nation' barely a month after the Paralympic Games closing ceremony?".
Olympic-Related Projects
Some Olympic-related projects are still in place, such as blocking traffic on the famous Pont d'Iena bridge across the Seine. The bridge that connects the Palais de Chaillot with the Eiffel Tower is being turned into a pedestrian area.
The pressure group, "The Other Side of the Medal", continues to criticize what it claims to be "the social cleansing" connected to the Olympics, which includes the removal of Paris' homeless population, in a sad memory of the Games.