Paris 2024 Olympic Games: sponsors, state aid, adjusted contracts… how French athletes finance their preparation

La judokate gardoise Shirine Boukli, qui vise le podium à Paris, a pu aménager ses études avec des cours à distance. MAXPPP – Laurent Lairys

Gleaning 60 to 70 medals requires resources. Aid and sponsorship have developed to enable French athletes to rise to the occasion. But many are still struggling to combine professional life and the quest for qualification.

While the torch relay continues to "warm up" the crowds of France and Navarre, the Paris Olympics will slide gently onto the field of the&rsquo ;sporting challenge where the bar will be placed at an unprecedented height for French athletes: 60 to 70 medals required to reach the 5th place set by Emmanuel Macron himself.

What means will the French delegation, estimated at 560 athletes, have at their disposal to reach them ? Obviously, to look good at home, aid and support measures for high-level athletes have been increased. But they still too often reach the top of the basket, those capable of aiming for the podiums, while others struggle to find the means to win their selection.

Also read: Paris 2024 Olympic Games: furniture sold, dives, Leetchi prize pool… the struggle of a Millavian athlete to finance her preparation

No financial worries for a French heavyweight like Teddy Riner whose annual income is close to a million euros. For many, however, working while training almost daily is a mission impossible. Some have to run the gauntlet or even appeal for donations, like the sprinter Meba-Mickael Zézé. 40% of them were still living below the poverty line before the start of the year. Parisian Olympiad.

National Sports Agency: aid to athletes up by 75%

Distributed by the National Sports Agency, support for high performance has been increased by 14% in 2024 to reach 114 million euros. A drop in the ocean, however, compared to the 9 billion budget for the 2024 Olympics. "The performance means of the federations have increased on average by 25 % over 4 years. For athletes it's an increase of 75%, and 130% for coaches, supports Claude Onesta.

The performance manager within the Agency also highlights other support systems: "We are on some something much more individualized whereas until now we remained on global forms into which everyone had to fit. We went as close as possible to the athlete to try to satisfy needs, correct weaknesses, and optimize performance. We give ourselves the opportunity to solve more problems to bring it closer to the efficiency zone."

Advised work contract

This is the strongest measure to allow athletes to prepare with complete peace of mind. The National Sports Agency has thus facilitated in 2023, 560 Employment Arrangement Agreements and 268 Professional Integration Agreements. These types of permanent contracts, most often signed with public employers, make it possible to limit the time spent in the company by the athlete to around fifty days per year and to detach him 100% in phase Olympic.

"The Agency supported my application with Customs so that I benefit from a 100 % seconded contract with the Customs. This allows me to devote myself 100% to shooting, welcomes Montpellier's Clément Bessaguet, who will aim for gold in Olympic pistol speed.

A system that has existed for a long time, as evidenced by Nîmes Adrien Hardy, gold medalist in rowing in 2004, in Athens: "I’had an annualized part-time job but I received a full-time salary at EDF. That’s what made me live."< /em>