5/21 - INSEP/Sightseeing

After a busy day of sightseeing in Paris on Tuesday, the group looked forward to a more laid-back day on Wednesday. We left the hotel at 8 am for the French National Team’s training center on the outskirts of Paris, called INSEP, which stands for National Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance. INSEP was created in the 1970s after an embarrassing French performance at the Rome Olympics. The government wanted to see success, so they built a state-of-the-art complex for their athletes to train, compete, and improve. 

After multiple trains and a bus, we reached INSEP. When we got there, we were met by two people: Simon Ravello, who works in international relations, and Jean Minier, the Director of Sports for the French Paralympic Team. Jean talked to us about the current state of Paralympic athletes and teams in France and worldwide. We learned much about the French National Olympic Committee's struggles to increase Paralympic participation. France is trying to increase sports participation, as it has been a real problem. Only ⅓ of the population participates in sport, and it is even more of a struggle to get Paralympic athletes to participate. Jean explained to us that there is a whole process that sports clubs have to go through to become certified to train Paralympic athletes, and even then, there are not a ton of athletes willing to participate. France hopes hosting last summer’s Olympics will boost participation in Paralympic and Olympic sports. After his talk, we asked him some questions. One of the main themes of our questions was marketing/communications. We were wondering how the French Olympic Committee markets the Paralympic athletes. Jean said it is difficult for the committee to sell the athletes, especially with the IOC revenue regulations. He said it is an issue they are trying to figure out, as it is crucial for future success. 

After this excellent talk, Simon led us on a tour of the facilities, where we saw multiple teams training, including a refugee team member who won a bronze medal in the Paralympic taekwondo event. Her story was truly inspiring. The facilities at INSEP were top-notch and showed that France is an Olympic and athletic success. Every resource that you can imagine is at the fingertips of each athlete. France is trying to use every tool possible to ensure Olympic success.

The afternoon was filled with more sightseeing. We started at The Louvre, where we learned about the museum's history and how it used to be a compound of the royal family. With each new king, a new wing was added to the compound. Fun fact: the famous pyramid was built in 1989 for the 200th anniversary of Bastille Day in France. The Louvre was very interesting, and the art was beautiful, but my favorite part of the day was when I went to Notre Dame. The architecture was stunning and one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. This was a great end to a busy but fun day in Paris!