French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said his country would applaud its Olympians on one of the capital’s most prestigious thoroughfares next month.
“September 14, 2024. The Champs Elysees Avenue. Be there to celebrate our athletes,” he wrote on X.
As of Thursday, France had won the fourth most gold medals at the Games ending on Sunday, nabbing 14 top prizes behind the United States, China and Australia.
Four of those individual medals belong to a single athlete, 22-year-old swimmer Leon Marchand, who has sparked “Marchand Mania” across France.
Judoka Teddy Riner, 35, has won two gold medals — one in the Men’s +100kg and the other as part of the mixed team event.
Macron has called for an Olympic truce in France for the duration of the Games, as its various political parties bicker over who could head a new government.
The president took the gamble of calling for snap elections just before the Games, after the far right beat his centrist alliance in European elections.
After centre and left parties pulled together against the far right in the second round, a left-wing alliance won most seats but no working majority in parliament.
Macron has largely opted to take a back seat during the Games, vacationing at his Mediterranean holiday residence, but he did make the trip to see Riner win gold in Paris on August 2.
