Olympic Games 2026: the French celebrated on February 23 in Albertville during a “sober” party to pass the baton to the Alps

The party is getting ready. The French athletes in Milan-Cortina will be celebrated on Monday February 23 in Albertville during a sound and light evening in front of 6,500 spectators which will also mark the “great return” of the Olympic flag 34 years after the Olympic Games in this city. This celebration will also pass the baton to those of 2030 in the French Alps, the organizers announced on Friday.

The French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region (AuRA) have promised a “popular and festive” event the day after the closing ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Games. A big show to welcome athletes who have just returned from Italy, accompanied by French “legends” from the history of the Olympics, a concert by rappers Bigflo and Oli and an evening hosted by DJ Charles B are on the program. Ticketing will be free.

Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, president of the CNOSF, and Fabrice Pannekoucke, president of the AuRA region, hope that the vast majority of Olympic and Paralympic athletes participating in the Olympic Games in Italy will be present for their “great return”, at the same time as that of the Olympic flag which, coming from Milan-Cortina, will be hoisted on the great mast of Albertville, still standing since 1992.

The return of the Olympic flag to Albertville will be an opportunity “to honor the legacy of 1992 and launch our road to the 2030 French Alps Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games,” commented Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. The budget for this celebration will be “sober” in a period of shortage of public finances, it was promised, without revealing the figure.