By OUR CORRESPONDENT
French foreign ministry’s ambassador for Sports, Samuel Ducroquet, has said that his country has delivered one of the best Summer Games as the Paralympic Games climax with the closing ceremony on Sunday at the Stade de France.
Ducroquet was speaking at his office in Paris on Thursday when he hosted a Kenyan delegation led by Kenyan ambassador to France, Betty Cherwon, and Sports Administrative Secretary Evans Achoki, who is the head of the delegation for Team Kenya at the Paralympic Games.
“The Paralympics are going to be over in a few days but we are extremely proud to have delivered an impeccable Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Ducroquet.
Ducroquet noted the enthusiasm created by fans provided wonderful moments to the athletes just like the athletes did in their respective competitions.
“We managed to deliver the Games that were in line with our values revolving around audacity and the delivery of fantastic opening ceremonies on River Seine for the Olympic and Palace de La Concord for the Paralympic manifested that,” said Ducroquet.
The ambassador said that they achieved the sustainability part with the Games being reasonable and environmentally friendly.
“We are happy about the solidarity since the Games were open to the biggest number in terms of gender equality at the Olympics. We also made good progress with gender equality for the Paralympic and we know we have more work to do,” said Ducroquet.
Ducroquet said the Games that have taken over a month starting with the Olympics on July 26, and ending with the Paralympics on September 8 gave his country the opportunity to re-enforce its ties with its partners.
“We have had a successful meeting today with team Kenya to see how we can work together and improve our relationship through sports. There are many opportunities in sports development, grassroot sports and also elite athletes and we are looking forward to working with the Kenyan team and Kenyan authorities,” said Docroquet, who is a career diplomat.
Achoki said they would use the experience picked from the Games to improve Kenya’s preparation to host the 2027 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Africa Cup of Nations among other major events.
“We are here to look at the best practices in organising the Olympics and we go back home richer in thoughts on event organisation, infrastructure development and facilities,” said Achoki.
Achoki said they discussed how France identifies talent and nurtures it, and how the athletes can earn from their talent
