Put sport at the heart of our public policies and encourage the French to take part in physical and sporting activities on their own, as a family, at school or at work.

Two of the objectives announced by Amélie Oudéa-Castera on Tuesday November 21 at the Salon des maires as part of the launch of the Grande Cause Nationale 2024.

 

The government will launch a communication campaign around the principle of 30 minutes of physical activity and sport a day, with the ambition of making it a societal marker in the same way as "eating 5 fruits and vegetables a day", relayed by 150 sports ambassadors (Tony Parker, Marie-Josée Pérec, Didier Deschamps, Amélie Mauresmo, Marie-Amélie Lefur, Thierry Marx, Michel Cymes...).) and support it by organizing "France en forme days" and a beach tour next summer.

Other activities include student sports challenges, a national neighborhood tournament, an inter-company challenge, the continuation of the Paralympic field day, a sports dictation...

 

 

We'll be targeting those who are furthest away from sporting activities,

in particular women (2/3 of French people who are furthest from practicing sport are women); senior citizens (35% of senior citizens don't practice any physical activity or sport), students (40% of students don't practice any physical activity at all; and people with disabilities (52% don't practice any regular physical activity or sport in 2023).

As part of the presidential and governmental commitment to making sport a major national cause, we should also mentionthe generalization of 30-minute physical and sporting activities in elementary school, the 2 hours of additional sports in secondary schools, and physical tests on entry to 6th grade.

 

 

Invited to testify on stage at the Salon des Maires, cardiologist and sports physician François Carré warned of the current dangers. " It's dangerous not to move. There's an addiction to screens, but we talk less about the addiction to the chair. The chair kills! We expect 1 million chronically ill people in France due to this sedentary lifestyle by 2030. Who's going to treat them? Who's going to pay?

 

Virgile Caillet underlined the exceptional nature of sport being chosen as a Great National Cause.

" Our sector is directly involved in the objective of making sport part of everyday life in France. The Great National Cause is a major unifying event, as well as an opportunity to sublimate sport. It has public health and civic implications. Through the "Grande Collecte" fundraising campaign we are launching from March 20 to April 30, we are illustrating a societal challenge. With the Union Sport & Cycle, we are a responsible and civic-minded institution, supporting the development of sporting activities".

Volontarist Minister for Sport and the Olympics Amélie Oudéa-Castéra launched, " The Olympic and Paralympic Games are going to give us momentum, the athletes are going to inspire us. What we want is for 2024 to be an irreversible turning point for sport. We want this general mobilization of all players ".

The announcement of sport as a Great National Cause, a first in 46 years, was made by the French President at the Olympic and Paralympic Council on July 25, 2022.

 

 

>> Article written by Sport Guide