French winter athletes on how they experienced Paris 2024: “I've never seen Paris like that!”

At the Olympic Games Paris 2024, France won a record-breaking 16 gold medals - a massive success for a whole country, but even more unique for winter sport athletes in the midst of their off-season training regimes far away from the City of Lights.

Emily Harrop, a ski mountaineering athlete with three overall World Cup titles to her name, told Olympics.com, "Léon Marchand became our idol a few months ago!”

She added, “I don't usually watch swimming, but I did during the Games, same with artistic gymnastics as well. I also discovered kayak cross and BMX Race; it's a bit fight; there are many changes in the race, and it's so cool to watch.”

Harrop was just one of a handful of French winter sport athletes to give her perspective on the Olympic Games Paris 2024 to Olympics.com*.*

Éric Perrot: “I couldn’t be in Paris for the Games, I was a bit disappointed”

French biathlete Éric Perrot worked hard this summer, spending time in Antholz-Anterselva - the future host venue of biathlon competitions during the Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026. However, he still found time to follow everything he could from Paris 2024.

“I watched the Olympic Games a lot. I admired the performances, whether it was Léon Marchand, Teddy Riner… Everyone has their own story, and all of them are inspiring. I love to watch all the disciplines. I love diversity, and Paris 2024 was magic”

Perrot, who won the first mass start of the World Cup season in Kontiolahti, couldn’t be on site for Paris 2024. Nonetheless, he made it to the City of Lights just in time to experience the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

“I couldn’t be in Paris for the [Olympic] Games. I was a bit disappointed, but I managed to go to the Paralympics," explained Perrot. "It was so cool. I watched para athletics at Stade de France, para swimming and wheelchair fencing as well.”

Lou Jeanmonnot, who finished second in IBU Biathlon World Cup 2023/24 general ranking, also experienced Paris 2024 from afar. She was left in awe by the performances of Léon Marchand, who won four gold medals in swimming.

“I loved to watch the Opening Ceremony; I assume, as an athlete, it must have been incredible. I also loved the medals from Léon Marchand, they were fabulous. I loved many moments, but those were my favorites.

Quentin Fillon Maillet: “ It was even more impressive on site”

Unlike Perrot and Jeanmonnot, some winter athletes spent a part of their summer in the French capital to attend the Olympic Games Paris 2024, directly from the stands of Olympic venues.

A few months before her winning comeback in moguls, Perrine Laffont was a torchbearer when the Olympic Torch Relay came to Font-Romeu, in the Pyrénées-Orientales.

The skier who won a gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 came to Paris, with French fans catching a glimpse of her at Club France in the Nations Park.

Quentin Fillon Maillet, who won five medals at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 in biathlon, was also among those in attendance at the Games, traveling to the French capital for the last days of Paris 2024.

“We had our camp, so I couldn’t attend the beginning of the Games, but I went there for the end with some other athletes. I was able to watch the bronze medal game in men’s basketball, the last night of athletics at the Stade de France and the modern pentathlon, the last day of the Olympic Games”, he told Olympics.com.

“During the camp, whenever we had free time outside of training, we had the TV on to watch all the events. We wouldn't let our screens out of sight. We already witnessed the atmosphere from a distance, but it was even more impressive on site.”

Julia Simon, a six-time gold medallist at the Biathlon World Championships, was also struck by the unique atmosphere that reigned over Paris during the Olympic Games. She attended multiple events on the same day, sharing the pride she felt seeing her country shine on the global stage.

“I went to Paris one day during the Games, and it was astonishing!" exclaimed Simon. "What impressed me the most was the global atmosphere, the show that France gave to the world. It was the best picture possible of France, I’ve never seen Paris like that before, it was so amazing."

She added, "The Games highlighted the inclusion, the differences, and I found really beautiful.”

If you also want to experience this incredible atmosphere again and watch the best moments of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, it’s possible here.