Older French people will remember the shame felt by the nation when it had to wait until the very last day of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics to hear the Marseillaise played at a medal ceremony, thanks to the show jumper Pierre Jonquères d’Oriola. It had been even worse in Rome four years previously, with a mere five medals to bring home, none of them gold. We were good at organising and regulating sports. We loved creating competitions and setting up international federations. No one came close to us in that regard; but, as to the rest – fighting for...


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Author: Philippe Auclair