SUCCESS OR FAILURE?

Are the Olympic Games a failure or a success?

This question can be asked after the many criticisms that have appeared in the press, but they should not be taken as the basis for a considered opinion, because they concerned particular points and were expressed without an overall view.

Certainly, in certain circumstances, unfortunately quite numerous, one could rightly complain about the organization of this or that sport, I myself pointed out how unfortunate that of lawn tennis was. However, overall, it is undeniable that the VIII Olympic Games achieved a success never equaled until now. Sincerely, I think that it would be unfair not to recognize it, and it is very right that Mr. Frantz Reichel, the Secretary General of the French Olympic Committee, who was its soul, was publicly congratulated, at the Stadium itself, by the delegates of all the international federations. Certainly, he had good collaborators, he also had bad ones, but it is within the C.O.F. that it is appropriate to explain it.

From a sporting point of view, undeniable success with the Football Tournament, the great final day between Uruguay and Sweden, the weeks of extraordinary performances by the athletes on the cinder track of Colombes and the swimmers in the Tourelles swimming pool, the great games played on the courts of Colombes by the world's racket stars, the horse polo matches never seen before, the great feats of our cyclists, the exploits of the weight lifters. The technical organization of all the Olympic competitions was impeccable, except, perhaps, at the beginning, for those sports that had the Vélodrome d'Hiver as a theater.

The total receipts were good. The Olympic commissioners had expected them to be higher. They reached 5,500,000 francs, a pretty figure, which beats by far the record for receipts from previous Games. To this figure, we must also add those from the various concessions, buffet, programs in particular, which will bring the general total to more than six million. Will the receipts balance the expenses? This is another story that goes beyond the scope of this brief study.

In summary, sporting success, technical success, financial success, therefore, overall, the VIII Olympic Games were indeed what was expected.

Could this success have been greater?

Yes, if the services that were responsible for propaganda had fulfilled their role better. Propaganda was below everything. A simple example: exactly eleven days before the opening day in Colombes, a federation received thousands of so-called propaganda Olympic stamps, reproductions of the two unique posters that were so unartistic that they were published! It was obviously a liquidation of stocks! This example could be multiplied, but we will speak of this again to the French Olympic Committee.

Alas! there is however a whole category of good people for whom the Games are a flop. In Colombes, fortune was expected. Many inhabitants had set up rooms that they promised to rent at high prices. They are still waiting for a tenant. For them, it is only a loss of income, for others, it was the entire loss of their capital. Many people rented or bought a corner of land where they built cafes, bars, guinguettes of all kinds, which gave, moreover, to the surroundings of the Colombes Stadium, an unfortunate aspect of a funfair, like a ham fair.

None of these establishments did business. People came to Colombes to attend the Games, they were only in a hurry, once the meeting was over, to secure a means of returning to Paris. For all the people who had the unfortunate idea of ​​wanting to make money in Colombes, the Olympic Games were a flop, and even a black flop.

PAUL CHAMP.