IOC President Thomas Bach awards the Olympic Order to President Macron [© Présidence de la République]
Macron Receives Olympic Order After Paris 2024
by Philip Barker
French President Emmanuel Macron has been awarded the Olympic Order in recognition of his support for the Paris 2024 Olympics which have been described as “an affair of the heart.”
Macron characterised the efforts to organise the Games as “a human collective that was involved for seven years.”
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach made the presentation at the Élysée Palace in Paris.
“The first time we met, it was very quickly clear to me that President Emmanuel Macron was bringing a particular energy and vision to this project, he did not just support the candidature, he embraced it wholeheartedly. For him the Games were an affair of the heart,” said Bach.
“You were the driving force which brought together the public authorities at every level and from every political background around this Olympic project,” Bach told Macron. “Your tireless energy and the unifying power of sport produced a truly magical occasion.”
Macron joins a distinguished list of French recipients including Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet and Director Étienne Thobois.
Olympic and Paralympic Minister Amelie Oudéa-Castéra, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Île-de-France Regional President Valérie Pécresse were amongst other leading officials recognised.
The last French President to open an Olympics had been François Mitterrand at the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville. He, too, had received the Olympic Order.
Others also on the list include Michel Barnier and Jean Claude Killy, both recognised in 1992 for organising the Winter Olympics in Albertville.
President Macron of France arrives with Bach at the Opening Ceremony (top right).
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