Club France: promoting research and innovation during the Paris Olympics 2024

Though Club France is first designed to gather all fans of the Olympic Games and sport in a fun and unifying atmosphere, it can also have educational benefits! At least, it’s what the French ministry of higher education and research wants, by inviting all audiences in the Parc de la Villette during the Olympic and Paralympic Games “to support our teams and experiment a truly unforgettable experience”. Many researchers will be present in the Club France, in the Grande Halle de la Villette de Paris, to present their project and invite the public to participate.

Sport in a scientific angle

A rich programme is available to participants, with of course a broadcast of sports, meetings with athletes, events and sport demonstrations, art performances, concerts, but also the presentation of research projects in relation with sport. Because the ministry in charge of research also declared that “participating in the Games also means understanding sport in a scientific angle”. 

And a high number of events listed by the ministry and held in its information area are planned, to promote this scientific aspect. Such events include:

• permanent events promoting innovative projects such as the programme “Mouv'en Santé - Activité physique et santé, faisons la science ensemble !” (Mouv’en Santé - physical activity and health, let’s make science together!) by the CNRS. To better understand “everyday life habits, levels of physical activity and physical condition of the French population and its impacts on health”, the CNRS invites researchers to meet all participants who “agree to share their data and build scientific projects with them”. This breakthrough project of participatory science aims at a “double objective: raising awareness of the general audience about physical activity for our well-being and overall health, and inviting us to change our way of living”;

• the presentation of innovative equipment, such as a rowing machine with electrostimulation (presented by INSERM) to allow paraplegic persons to row, or a cycling bike with a virtual reality helmet (presented by INRIA) to take part “in the pack of a bike race and join the offensive!”. More innovations are also visible in the stand of the ministry, such as football boots entirely recycled, recycled stadium seats, a connected climbing grip for training, and more.

• tests in many fields in relation with sport, thanks to the INSEP (national institute of sport, expertise and performance) to allow the public to “discover, learn and test”. More subjects such as general culture in sport, mental health, injury risk factors, sleep and recovery will also be presented in the form of a quiz;
• events about research projects, with initiatives of higher education institutions in relation with research entities, such as the Team Sports project of the University of Rouen, to develop “new approaches about cognition and mental preparation in team sports”.

A cycle of two conferences

In addition to these events for the general audience, a cycle of two conferences scheduled during the Olympic and Paralympic Games “dedicated to research, higher education and training in sport” will be organised by the ministry and held in the Club France auditorium:

• the conference on 29 July. The ministry explains that this conference focuses “on the benefits of research and scientific support in high performance sport”, using the presentation of a video documentary directed by France Télévisions, “Plus vite, plus haut, plus fort” (Faster, higher, stronger). Project leaders chosen as part of the Priority Very High Performance Sport Research Programme spoke after the broadcast. This session continued with the intervention of the Conference of STAPS directors (C3D) to present the scientific work on sport achieved in university labs.

• the conference on 4 September, at the heart of the Paralympic Games. This conference is designed to bring value to “the action of the French government for sportspersons, students and pupils in terms of physical and sport activity and research in sport”. The ministry explains that such conferences should open the way to consider opportunities to deploy interministerial strategies to facilitate regular sport practice for all students, promote the training and professional insertion of students in occupations in the sport industry, and develop adjustments of studies for high level sport students.