The French are très supportive of the Olympics, according to a new poll.
Nearly a year after the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, 83% of the French have a “positive image” of the event, including more than a third who told pollsters their perception of how their capital city welcomed the world was very positive.
France’s enthusiasm for the Paris Games, widely viewed as a huge success coming after Olympics impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, spilled over into other sporting events, with 75% of the French saying they wanted to see even more major events in their country.
That includes the 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps. Just over three-quarters of French people are in favor of hosting the upcoming Winter Games, with 75% also saying they already have a “positive image” of France’s next Olympics and Paralympics.
“These results clearly demonstrate the power of major sporting events to bring the French people together. They generate enthusiasm and support across all social categories, ages, and regions,” said Mathieu Hanotin, president of Territoires d’Événements Sportifs.
The results of the poll conducted for the association of French cities that host major sporting events were summed up more succinctly by The Sports Examiner, a California-based Olympic news source, with the headline: “France still in love with Olympics.”
Both the French Alps’ 2030 and Utah’s 2034 Winter Games were awarded by the International Olympic Committee at a meeting in Paris, held just before the start of last year’s Summer Games.
France was a late entry into the race for the 2030 Winter Games, jumping in just two years ago, after public backing faltered for a pair of longtime bidders, Sapporo, Japan, and Vancouver, Canada.
Utah bid for both the 2030 and 2034 Games, but eventually made it clear waiting would be better to avoid competing for domestic sponsors with another U.S. Olympics, the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
France has been scrambling to prepare for another Olympics on what is a shorter than usual timeline. Officials from the regions involved in the sweeping Winter Games that stretch all the way down the country to the French Riviera have visited Utah’s Olympic venues.
Francs Jeux, a French-language sports news website, pointed out the poll results “will delight the (2030) organizing committee, which has been criticized by some at the local level,” according to a translation.
Utah’s Olympic organizers have long had high levels of support for bringing a second Winter Games to the state, Deseret News polling has shown. Shortly before Utah got the 2034 Games last year, a Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found 79% of Utahns backed the bid.