these employers who congratulate their athletes, like Agbégnénou and Cysique, for their performances at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

They are gendarmes, they are policewomen, or even SNCF agents on the train platforms, but above all Olympic athletes and sometimes medalists at the Paris Olympics. On social networks, they are the pride of their company.

“The Ministry of the Armed Forces, the State’s leading contributor to high-level sport, congratulates its army of Champions.” The French army displays its unwavering support for athletes on its website. Like it, employers of French people involved in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games follow the performances of their champions and do not fail to compliment them on social networks.

In a post published on X on Saturday, August 3, when France had 36 Olympic medals, the Ministry of the Armed Forces had reason to be proud: “A third of our medals are won by […] sportsmen of the ministry.” Among them, many judokas are cited such as Warrant Officer Clarisse Agbégnénou, individual bronze medalist, Sailor Joan-Benjamin Gaba, individual silver medalist, Petty Officer Shirine Boukli, individual bronze medalist, and Private Luka Mkheidze, individual silver medalist. All have since won team gold medals.

We also find Manon Apithy-Brunet, quartermaster sergeant and Olympic champion in individual sabre, and many other medalists in archery, sailing, canoeing and even cycling. Some athletes are also congratulated directly on the social networks of the National Gendarmerie.

Soldiers, but also policemen and policewomen. The national police is full of praise for its champions, like the congratulations addressed to Camille Jedrzejewski. The police officer was recognized for her “ssuperb silver medal won […] in the 25m pistol shooting event”in a post on XThe hashtag #ÀlintérieurDesJeux was even created for the occasion, so that the Ministry of the Interior could share the exploits of its French athletes.

For her part, Anaïs Bourgoin herself referred to her job as a police officer in the anti-crime brigade (BAC), after her qualification for the semi-final of the 800 meters: “I was running after the thieves at Porte de Saint-Ouen. Today, I’m running at the Stade de France. I hope they’ll see me and understand why I was always catching up with them.” A reaction that provoked many hilarious reactions on social networks.

Another company that provides French medallists: the SNCF. On its website, even before the start of the Games, the Sûreté Ferroviaire said: “proud to support” judoka Sarah-Léonie Cysique, individual bronze medalist and team gold medalist in Paris. The subsidiary of the SNCF group draws a portrait of the champion, coupled with a video to present the one who, outside of the tatamis, works as an agent on the train platforms.

SNCF specifies that it has eleven employees participating in the Olympic Games in Paris. Other public employers include customs, hospitals and local authorities, thanks to Employment planning agreements (CAE). Large private groups, for their part, have the equivalent of CAEs with Professional Integration Agreements (CIP). This allows them to employ high-level athletes, so that their professional activity is compatible with their performance.

Gendarmes at the Olympics? Yes, but not only on the athletes’ side. The national gendarmerie also salutes on its website “THE gendarmes who are participating in these Games as referees: Warrant Officer Nicolas in rowing, Warrant Officer Aurélie in weightlifting, and Warrant Officer Mickaël in tennis”.