By Julien Pretot
PARIS (Reuters) – President Emmanuel Macron had set the bar high by calling for 50-60 French medals at the Paris Olympics and Les Bleus duly delivered, reeling in the country’s biggest medal haul since 1900, as the Games came to an end on Sunday.
The women’s basketball team delivered the delegation’s 64th medal when they took silver after their final defeat against the U.S., the highest number since the 1900 Games – also held in Paris – when fewer nations competed and some events were only contested by French athletes.
With 16 golds, France also beat their tally from Atlanta 1996 (15), and their 64 medals overall easily eclipsed their Beijing 2008 tally of 43.
“This result is an exceptional result,” Claude Onesta, High Performance Manager at the French National Sports Agency, told a news conference on Sunday as France finished fifth in the medals table.
“I wanted share our big satisfaction, with results that reflect the structural strength of our nation,” sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera added.
Two athletes in particular shone and gave the host country a huge boost in confidence, as swimmer Leon Marchand and judoka Teddy Riner claimed four and two golds respectively, and sent the crowds wild across the capital.
Team sports also contributed with seven medals – one more than in Tokyo – although the handball defending champions, women and men, lost their titles.
Although expectations were not high, the major disappointment came from the athletics, where France only managed one medal.
“It’s a disappointing result, but there are still glimmers of hope behind it,” Romain Barras, High Performance Director at the French Athletics Federation, told a news conference without elaborating.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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