Did France perform as well as previous host countries?

With its 64 medals, the French delegation beat its post-Second World War record, which dated back to the Beijing Games in 2008. A fine performance, but not unprecedented for a host country.

Benefiting from the support of their home crowd, training months in advance on the competition’s infrastructure or being part of a special training program launched by a host country as soon as the Olympics are awarded: several factors can explain why an athlete wins more often at home, at the Olympic Games. Since the Sydney Games in 2000, all the organizing countries have indeed achieved the best medal total in their history, post-World War II, when hosting the Games on their soil. Franceinfo looked at the result of the French delegation in Paris, in comparison with its predecessors.

The progression of the host countries compared to previous Olympics is, almost systematically, spectacular. The increase in the number of medals is 41% for Australia between 1996 and 2000 and even 114% compared to 1992. The Japanese delegation in Tokyo has also progressed by 41% compared to Rio. The increase for China, in Beijing in 2008, is 59%, with a historic and unequalled score for the country of 100 medals against 63 in Athens in 2004.

But the most spectacular progression over four years is indeed… French. With 64 medals won in the City of Lights, the French Olympic team has increased its Tokyo total by 94% (33).

Generally speaking, the number of medals increases progressively for the host countries until the home Games. The countries mobilize around an “Olympic Games generation”. Greece, for example, had never exceeded three medals in an Olympiad. The “Athens Games” generation was established in 1996 with eight medals, then 13 in 2000 and 16 at home in 2004. The same observation for the British, whose progression until 2012 was meteoric (30 in 2004, 47 in 2008, 65 in 2012).

The British had an exceptional Games at home with a record 29 gold medals in 2012. A less convincing result for France in 2024, which did not manage to achieve the dream goal of 20 Olympic titles, but still beat its record from Atlanta with 16 gold medals.

The question now is: what is the future of the French contingent in Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032? The results of the host countries show that the generations built for the event are holding up well and continue to collect a solid number of medals at the following Olympics.

Since the Sydney Games, the Australians have crossed the 40-medal threshold four times in six Olympics, a score they had only achieved once before. The British, for their part, have never returned below 60 medals since 2012. The similarities between Team GB’s progression up to their Games, with their score of 65 in London, and the 64 medals for the French team in Paris, suggest a golden future for the French team.