From abroad, the Games are seen as “the most spectacular of all time”

After ten days in France, journalists from all over the world are generally won over by their experience at the Paris 2024 Games.

The City of Lights does not leave anyone indifferent. Since arriving on site to cover the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the foreign press has been largely won over. From Spain to Brazil, via the United States and Australia, journalists recount their experience, in what will remain for the most part as “the most spectacular Olympics of all time.”

“I have to admit that some places are simply incomparable in the world, like beach volleyball at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. What a setting! It made people jealous when I posted photos,” enthuses Celestine Karoney, a former Kenyan television presenter now attached to the BBC. “It highlights Paris. It’s a great example for the future: there’s no point in building endless infrastructure for which we won’t necessarily find a future use.”supports Marc Antoine Godin, journalist at Radio-Canada, who could not have dreamed of anything better for his first Olympic Games.

In addition to the beauty of the venues where the events take place, such as Les Invalides or the Château de Versailles, all the reporters are struck by the soul of these Games: the fervent French public. Saskya Vandoorne, an American journalist and producer at CNN, who we met in the stands of the Grand Palais, tells us, after an a capella Marseillaise launched by the supporters: “This atmosphere is incredible. It gives me goosebumps! In five editions, I had never seen fencing and I don’t regret coming.”

“In France, I have the feeling that people know more about sports than Braziliansanalyzes Antonio Chamorro of ESPN Brasil, who followed the events in Rio in 2016. In our country, some disciplines did not benefit from the same atmosphere, here, all the stadiums are full.” Present at the event for the public radio of Slovenia, Uros Volk greets him, “respect” French fans, but remember that these The Olympic Games in Europe also allowed more contingents to travel in large numbers, such as the nearly 3,000 Slovenians.

“There is also an atmosphere when there are Algerians”Omar Djemai emphasizes with a smile. If he is seduced by the spectacle in the stands, this journalist for TV1 Algeria “is not completely satisfied with the organization, because there is too much security compared to other Olympic Games.” An impression not necessarily shared by his colleagues. “Everything is going perfectly! As for food and transportation. I have had no problems, except perhaps that people communicate more in French than in English,” says Cintia Barlem, who came from Brazil for Globo. Stepan Sokol, who works for Czech television, also welcomes this “great success of the Games on all counts.” If he confirms that “security is very present”he appreciates seeing law enforcement “smiling, pleasant, who don’t hesitate to help everyone”.

“Often when we arrive at the competition venues there is no good signage. You go around in circles and no one knows where to send you. It’s as if the volunteers have not been properly trained.”however, testifies Kenyan Celestine Karoney, who came across a volunteer who shrugged her shoulders when she asked her for directions.

But like the few lengths in transport, nothing to alter the vision of Paris 2024 for the journalists, already surprised by the local population. “In Spain, people often say that Parisians are grumpy, that it’s difficult to talk to them, but I find that everyone is very friendly,” assures Jaume Rielo for the Spanish radio RNE. On the American side, this success on most levels “puts pressure on Los Angeles” for the next Olympiad, concedes Saskya Vandoorne.

“It was a risky bet to organize an opening ceremony outside and the bet was successful, it was extraordinary. France drew enormously on its history and the Americans really liked it, because they were able to learn things. It was not only sporting, but also cultural.”

Saskya Vandoorne, American journalist and producer at CNN

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“LA is still the home of Hollywood, it will be a little more showbiz than the references to Marie-Antoinette and the Moulin Rouge”she predicts. However, she knows what the Paris Games are missing to delight the American public 100%: “the absence of alcohol in the stands and the air conditioning.”