A light show at the Eiffel Tower as part of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Photo: XNA/VNA)

The Paris Olympics, which began on July 26, is in the final days of competition before the closing ceremony on Sunday.

France’s unexpected success

The Paris Games began with an emotional opening ceremony. Despite a controversial tableau that was criticized for seeming to mock religion, the ceremony received a positive review by the majority of commentators.

This was the first time in the history of the modern Olympics that the opening ceremony did not take place in a stadium, but on the Seine River and at many famous historical structures along the river, including the Pont-Neuf, the Alexandre III Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, and Trocadero Square.

The Paris Olympics turned many of France’s cultural heritages and architectural monuments – the Versailles Palace, the Grand Palace, Concorde Square, and Roland Garros tennis stadium – into competition venues, prompting claims that it had the most beautiful competition venues in the history of the modern Olympics.

Another plus for the Games has been security, which was the public’s biggest concern before the global sporting event began.

“Security is the fundamental factor in making an Olympics successful. The Paris Olympics has been successful in every way, but especially in security,” said French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.

The French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies says the Olympics will boost France's GDP in the third quarter by 0.3 percentage points, raising the growth rate for the period to 0.5%. The estimated economic impact of the Olympics for the Ile-de-France region is between 6.1 and 10.2 billion USD.

The French Olympic team has had great success on its home soil, winning the most medals ever in an Olympic Games. As of Friday morning it had won 54 medals, including 14 gold. Their outstanding star was swimmer Léon Marchand, who created a buzz in France by winning 4 gold medals.

Patrick Mignon, a sociologist specializing in sports and culture at the French National Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance (INSEP), said the success of the Paris Olympics has boosted public pride and unity at a time when France is more divided than any time since 1968 because of major political upheavals, including the far right’s victory in the European elections and the French Parliament’s dissolution just weeks before the Olympics.

World records and legendary athletes

Star athletes have always been an important measure of the success of the Olympics in terms of publicity and economic benefit. The greatest legends of recent Olympic Games include swimmer Michael Phelps of the US and runner Usain Bolt of Jamaica.

This year swimmer Leon Marchand of host France shone bright, winning 4 gold and 1 bronze medal. He achieved feats that even the legendary Michael Phelps did not achieve – gold medals in the 200m breaststroke and 200m butterfly on the same day, and an Olympic record in the men's 200m individual medley.

“The results are almost perfect for me and also very positive for the French team. We really have a good generation of athletes and have achieved great results in the last 3 or 4 years. For me it’s great. 4 gold medals are more than I dreamed,” Marchand said.

Another legend is American swimmer Katie Ledecky, who won her 9th Olympic gold medal in her 4th Olympic Games. With this achievement, Ledecky became the most successful female athlete in Olympic history, matching Soviet female gymnast Larisa Latynina.

A new world record of 46.40 seconds in the men's 100m freestyle was set by Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle. This was not only a new world record but also an achievement many experts previously thought impossible to achieve – swimming 100 meters in under 47 seconds. Pan reaffirmed his title as the world's fastest swimmer when he and his teammates won the gold medal in the men's 4x100m medley, where he broke his own record by swimming 100m in 45.92 seconds.

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic completed his collection of all major titles by winning the gold medal in men's tennis singles, affirming his position as the most successful tennis player in history.

In wrestling, Cuban legend Mijain Lopez set a record by becoming the first person to win gold medals at 5 Olympic Games.