Swimmer Florent Manaudou is feeling down, French MPs are in despair over a plummeting sports budget and the Eiffel Tower has lost its Olympic rings.
Two months after the flame of the glittering Olympic and Paralympic Games went out in Paris, the French capital is in the grip of a post-Game blues.
Swimming superstar Leon Marchand, a four-time gold medalist, continues to impress in pools around the world, but for his teammate Manaudou, the return to everyday life has proven difficult.
Manaudou, 33, was the first torchbearer on French soil when the Olympic flame arrived in Marseille in April and won two bronze medals in the swimming pool in Paris, but he wants to move on.
“It has been very complicated emotionally since the end of the Games,” he said.
“Everyone keeps throwing me back into it. I don't blame anyone, it's completely normal, but I want to move forward.
“I don't want to be stuck in August 2024 for months.”
In the capital, the dismantling of the temporary Olympic venues is almost complete.
The Olympic rings have been removed from the Eiffel Tower and the air cauldron in the Tuileries Gardens, which proved to be such a hit, has been removed and is looking for a new home.
The grounds of the Palace of Versailles, which required major renovations to host the equestrian events, will not be fully restored until early next year.
The lights have gone out at the local organizing committee's headquarters in Saint-Denis and the body has been moved to a smaller building north of Paris.
But President Tony Estanguet remains hard at work, with estimates expected next month whether the budget will exceed 4.5 billion euros ($4.8 billion).
– 'Definitely worth it' –
The government has not yet made public the full bill for the latest government costs, including bonuses for police officers.
On Thursday, France's general budget rapporteur, Charles de Courson, estimated that 1.9 billion euros had not been budgeted.
Minister Delegate for Budget and Public Accounts Laurent Saint-Martin responded that the amount represented additional costs resulting from the deployment of personnel from the Ministries of the Interior and Defense.
“Everyone will say, 'It cost more than expected, but given the image we left, it's well worth the extra,'” one former elected official pointed out.
In fact, increased consumption around the Olympics boosted French growth, with the economy expanding 0.4 percent in the July-September quarter.
On the other hand, declining funding for sports in 2025, against the backdrop of a dip in public finances, has upset almost all stakeholders.
“What remains of the 'great sporting country' barely a month after the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games?” asked ecology lawmaker Jean-Claude Raux.
“We have the impression that nothing has happened,” Belkhir Belhaddad, co-chairman of the Olympic monitoring group in the French parliament, told AFP.
Nevertheless, sports clubs have seen their numbers rise, especially in Paris, where table tennis, fencing and swimming – three sports in which France won Olympic medals – have all seen a marked increase in interest.
Some Olympic initiatives have remained, such as closing the emblematic Pont d'Iena bridge over the River Seine to traffic. The bridge, which connects the Eiffel Tower with the Palais de Chaillot, will become a pedestrian area.
In a more somber reminder of the Games, the pressure group “The Other Side of the Coin” continues to denounce what it calls “the social cleansing” associated with the Olympics, referring to the clearing of homeless people from Paris.
But as memories of summer fade, eyes are already turning to the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps.
Prime Minister Michel Barnier has signed a guarantee that the French state will meet its financial obligations for those Games.
After three-time Olympic canoeing champion Estanguet led the Summer Games, five-time biathlon gold medalist Martin Fourcade is among the names touted to head the organizing committee for the winter edition.
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