The two fortnights of the Olympic and Paralympic Games have come to an end. They leave behind deep joy and a sense of nostalgia that will quickly coexist with the stresses of life and the arrival of autumn.
The emotionally charged images, both sporting and artistic, are plentiful, and each person will have the one that left the deepest mark on their memory. The beautiful sporting and human stories compete with those of popular celebrations, both in the stands and within the French team or in front of the television.
Over the weekend of August 10th, the French Baseball Federation, with the help of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), managed to put on a remarkable demonstration of baseball5, which, let’s remember, will be featured at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar in 2026. Given the success of 3×3 basketball, beach volleyball, and 7-a-side rugby, it seems that condensed formats of team sports are the future of Olympic programming.
Not seeing baseball, softball, baseball5, or blind baseball won’t have been an issue for the vast majority of the French public. Internationally, a few articles from the United States, Australia, Japan, Cuba, and other countries have addressed the subject without the French Olympic Committee taking notice.
The Olympic movement, under the lights of Paris and France, has embraced progressive and global ideas that are inherent to the international gathering of amateur athletes of all kinds, respectful of rules that are also global. In what other field do we have this type of gathering? Only art can claim this possibility. All other fields—economic, political, religious—are merely communal.
Of course, Olympism is not exempt from human imperfections: various favors, political advantages, segregation, doping… but the theoretical idea of a global gathering for sport, which brings about a truce of peace, continues to exist. Paris and France have elevated these values and symbols to a level never before seen. Let’s hope that the upcoming editions in the United States, Australia, and then India continue this progress toward greater global unity of values.
