Rightly described by the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as “sensational”, the 2024 Paris Games were an opportunity for the entire planet to appreciate the performances of 10,500 athletes.
Coming from 206 National Olympic Committees, plus neutral individual athletes and members of the Refugee Olympic Team, the athletes were divided into equal numbers of women and men, a parity that was a first in the history of the Olympic movement.
For those who have closely followed the performances of the 60 Quebec athletes who qualified for the Games (as members of the Canadian Olympic Committee delegation, which numbered 338), it may be interesting to compare these performances to those of athletes from other delegations.
A review of the medal list shows that four individual medals were won by athletes from Quebec: Maude Charron (silver, weightlifting), Ilya Kharun (2 bronzes, 100 m and 200 m butterfly swimming), Sophiane Méthot (bronze, trampoline gymnastics).
Two Quebecers reached the podium in team events: Nathan Zsombor-Murray (bronze, 10 m synchro diving) and Félix Auger-Aliassime (tennis doubles). As well as a Quebecer, Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, who was one of the eight athletes on her team (silver, rowing).
For the purposes of the Quebec ranking, we therefore award it a total of five medals: the bronze medals collected by Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Félix Auger-Aliassime being counted as a single Quebec medal; the silver medal in the eight in rowing being awarded to Rest of Canadawhose total number of medals therefore stands at 22.
When ranked according to the number of medals per million inhabitants, Quebec is ranked 37th.e world ranking (out of 208 delegations) with 0.55 medals per million. This respectable performance follows closely that of the ROC, which would be placed 33e rank with 0.63 medals per million inhabitants. Quebec is ahead of countries such as Germany, Spain, the United States, Japan and China…
And if we were to count all of Quebec’s performances at the Beijing Winter Games in 2022 and the Paris Summer Games in 2024 in proportion to the population, Quebec would come in at 15e rank ; the Rest of Canadaat 21e rank.
Quebec participation
Quebec’s future at the Olympic Games depends mainly on the quality of its athletes’ performances and their qualification for the Games. But the size of the Quebec contingent is not to be overlooked.
Is it normal that Quebec athletes only make up 17.2% of the Canadian delegation in Paris, when the population of Quebec represents 22% of the population of Canada? Is it acceptable that teams have a small — sometimes negligible — number of athletes from Quebec?
When comparing the size of Quebec’s representation to that of countries with a similar number of inhabitants, we see that the number of 60 athletes is much lower than that of Hungary (180 for 10 million), Sweden (128 for 10.7 million), the Czech Republic (111 for 10.5 million), Greece (101 for 10.3 million), Israel (85 for 9.3 million), Austria (81 for 8.9 million) and Portugal (73 for 10.2 million). This observation highlights the significant delay in Quebec’s representation at the Games.
A major reflection on the future of Quebec sport must take place. Does Quebec currently have all the means to showcase its athletes in the Olympic Games and other major international sporting competitions? Has Quebec been represented in sporting terms—or could it be better represented—in the Canadian context?
Questions that the Advisory Committee on Constitutional Issues for Quebec within the Canadian Federation, which is invited to examine “Quebec’s ability to speak with its own voice internationally, not only in all areas that fall under its jurisdiction, but also on other subjects of interest to the Quebec nation,” might want to answer and which it should certainly consider.
Increased international sporting autonomy – and even more so, gaining independence – will allow Quebec to distinguish itself even more at the next Olympic Games and, in our opinion, to climb several ranks in the medal standings.
Achieving these objectives will also depend on the model that will be put in place to support the development of athletes, but also, more broadly, that of sports practice.
The application of such a model is likely to lead to the adoption of measures that will allow athletes to proudly represent Quebec at the next Olympic Games and to say loud and clear, in the name of Quebec, ” Citius, Altius, Fortius — Communiter » (“Faster, higher, stronger — together”).