Paris Olympics 2024: Lebrun, Riner, Aubert… French stars boost licensees in all sports

The number of sports licenses increased by 5% at the start of the 2024 school year with a tidal wave in table tennis, fencing and badminton, which benefited from the Olympic effect, according to provisional figures published on Friday by the National Institute of Youth and Popular Education (Injep).

“These initial results are consistent with recent work concluding that major sporting events generally have a low impact on the sporting practice of the host country”, notes the Injep.

The figures from this flash survey come from around fifty sports federations. In 2023, the increase in licenses was 7.9%, an increase that made up for the effect of the health crisis, according to the Injep, which was then counting on an increase of 5.4% for 2024.

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Medalists at the forefront

The frenzy around the brothers Alexis and Félix Lebrun in table tennis generated a flow of registrations: an increase of 23%. Badminton recorded an increase of 19%, as did fencing, and archery increased by 15%. Taekwondo, which also won several French medals during these home Olympics, is up 13%.

The disabled sports federation, which is not responsible for all parasports but does take care of boccia, which saw Aurélie Aubert win gold, recorded a 21% increase.

On the other hand, swimming, despite the Léon Marchand phenomenon (four gold medals) is in “quasi-stagnation”, “perhaps due to the saturation of swimming pools” in France “likely to limit the absorption capacity of clubs”, says the Injep.

Federations and associations overwhelmed

Several federations or club presidents have reported since September that they had to turn away people, both children and adults.

The Injep has not yet been able to assess this phenomenon, which in mid-2024 was 11% of those aged 15 and over “having been refused registration during the previous year”.

“Sports federations with the most licensees, such as football, tennis, horse riding, basketball and rugby, are traditionally not very sensitive to the impact of the Olympic Games”, with increases of less than 5%, notes l’Institut.

Another lesson from this survey: annual female licenses “are increasing faster (+6%) than for boys and men (+4%), based on a significantly lower number of licenses relative to the population for girls and women”, the Injep also notes. There is still a Covid catch-up as well as an increase among those over 55.