Olympic Education in France: A Legacy Issue or the Promotion of a Model in Crisis?

Abstract

Both the promoters of Olympism and the organisers of the Olympic Games regularly employ the term legacy. In this context, the use of education as a tool constitutes an important stake. We have analysed the position of French actors in education with regard to Olympism and the measures implemented. In this respect, we have studied, on the one hand, the texts of the IOC and OCOGs from the 1960s to those concerning Paris 2024, in order to identify the concepts of education. On the other hand, we have focused on the professional texts of Physical Education and Sport (PES) teachers. Finally, in order to complete this analysis, we have examined the contents of projects labelled as part of the “Olympic Class” scheme, designed as one of the main channels for rolling out Olympic education in schools. This study has made it possible to identify the ways in which PES teachers engage in and take ownership of the concept of Olympic education, sometimes to the point of validating its ideological foundations or transforming them. Our study thus ponders the means used to make Olympism a universal subject and demonstrates that, far from offering real pedagogical treatment of Olympic facts, current practices aim rather to form generations of spectators attached to Olympism and guarantee the success of future Olympiads.