Paris 2024 preview: Martin Fourcade already ‘shaking’ with excitement
With Beijing 2022 concluding, the attention turns to the next edition of the Olympics that will be held in the French capital of Paris. Five-time Olympic champion Martin Fourcade outlines the reasons to be hyped for the next edition of the summer Games.
Paris 2024 is the next Olympic Games in the calendar following the brilliance of Beijing 2022. One of the many people working behind-the-scenes to make sure the next installment is unforgettable is five-time Olympic champion biathlete Martin Fourcade.
“Personally, I take it as if I had to welcome a friend at home,” he said to Olympic.com in an exclusive interview.
The plans already look incredible with a world’s first Opening Ceremony happening outside a stadium and on the banks of the famous River Seine. The Olympics in France will also be the first where breaking is displayed as an Olympic discipline.
“I really can't wait for the Opening Ceremony with 600,000 [watching live]. I'm already shaking!
“I'm really excited to welcome [people to] the Games. It's a big chance. We have, of course, on the sports side [a chance] because we we could provide an amazing Olympic Games. But I think it's more deeper than that. It's also about the place of sport in our French society.”
Where are the next Olympics? Paris 2024
Martin Fourcade already cemented himself firmly into French society with his five Olympic titles in biathlon. He popularised the sport in the country which now has a healthy interest in one of the greatest physical and mental tests in the Olympic programme.
The French team includes some top Olympic performers including double Olympic champion Quentin Fillon Maillet.
Biathlon taught Fourcade to stay focused on his goals – especially when there are setbacks.
“During my career, on my best years, I was dominating biathlon. But I won a bit more than 30 percent of competitions.
“That means that [for] 70 percent of the time I was losing. It's a a part of biathlon [that] for winning. You need to be able to accept that you need to lose.”
Fourcade has brought his tenacity to the Paris 2024 team where he president of the Athlete’s Commission. He is tasked with making sure everything runs as smoothly as possible for the participants on the field of play.
“We are working on many things from the inside the Olympic Village because it's where the athlete stays. So, there is a need to feel at home.
“We are working on all these small details to make sure that the athlete’s experience will be amazing during the Games…
“It's really good for me to be in Beijing and also to take that experience, to see what is good, [and] what we could improve for Paris.”
Paris 2024: Time to celebrate at the Olympics in France
Despite the difficulties, both Tokyo and Beijing rose to the challenges of the pandemic. By the time of Paris 2024, the world could finally enjoy an Olympic Games without the worries of COVID-19.
“We will hope to be the first Olympics after the pandemic without, the COVID situation without these masks, just [without] restrictions…
“The Olympic is a lot about tradition. It's from the Olympics in Greece to today. But we also want to bring some modernity and welcoming [the] world for the Opening Ceremony outside a stadium along the Seine is something really incredible.”
With less than 900 days to go, the countdown to the next Olympics in Paris starts now.