With the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games now wrapped up, the Olympic flag officially arrived in the French Alps on Monday, marking a new milestone for France, one of the most frequent hosts of the Games in history.
France has previously hosted both the Winter and Summer Games three times, with the most recent edition dating back to Paris 2024. The arrival of the flag now transfers the responsibility of the 2030 Winter Games to the French Alps.
Upon arrival, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu seized the opportunity to express his pride and address frequent criticism made during the organisation of such major sporting events.
Starting his speech, he stated proudly that France now has “something completely unexpected, completely singular in our history, with this frequency of hosting the Games, the ability to look for effectively sporting results that are out of the standard.”
Following, he made particular mention of France’s team at this year’s Winter Games, praising “an absolutely formidable, hyper motivated, hyper prepared team.”
He also welcomed the mobilisation of local authorities, regional presents, parliaments and mayors, united behind a shared ambition: “not to make subtractions and divisions, but to make additions”, in the service of sporting values.
Addressing criticism
However, the Prime Minister did not shy away from addressing criticism, responding to those who repeatedly question France’s ability to deliver, pointing out the country’s savoir-faire (know-how) in successfully organising such events. “Every time, we have the same ones who come to reintroduce doubt,” he said, “And this is poison for the country.”
He used the 2024 edition as a prime example, where – despite geopolitical and security challenges – France was able to showcase its ability to organise a large-scale international competition.
In fact, being a former minister of the Armed Forces himself, he noted that security operations for 2024 were far more complex than anything seen in the early 1990s – and yet, France delivered.
With further changes of government expected before 2030, Lecornu was also keen to stress the continuity of the state’s commitment. “The teams change, they will change, there will be other governments by 2030, but there is a continuity of the state, a continuity of the word given, and simply a continuity of the desire to succeed and properly organise these Games in 2030.”
He then closed with a rallying call to silence the doubters once and for all: “Let’s leave the bad sleepers aside – everyone has their own role to play, and let’s all shoot in the same direction to get there in 2030.”
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Sébastien Lecornu during this address, photo credit: Government Information Service