The impact a home gold can have on the Olympic host nation

The Olympic stadium is never more alive than when an athlete from the host country triumphs on its fabled track or hallowed field.

Think Michael Johnson blasting around the Atlanta track in 1996 to win the 200m-400m double, Cathy Freeman uniting her nation with victory in the 400m in Sydney in 2000, or heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill sparking the glorious hour in which the British team won three gold medals on home soil in London in 2012.

The tradition of athletes jumping higher, throwing farther and running faster than ever before, propelled by a raucously adoring home crowd, is part of the storied history of the Olympic Games. They are moments that live forever, not only in the minds of their compatriots, but as favourite memories of Olympic fans around world.

The Stade de France has already seen one such triumph this week, with the victory of the French men’s rugby sevens team, but who among the French track and field athletes can make the moment that will forever symbolise the Paris Olympic Games?

World record-holder Kevin Mayer (9126 points) has long been the golden boy of French athletics and had been regarded as the one most likely to deliver an athletics gold medal for his home country in Paris. While he managed to qualify despite an injury affected preparation, Mayer had another setback at the Paris Diamond League meeting in early July when he crashed in the 110m hurdles and tore his hamstring. He had intensive treatment in a bid to be ready for the Games but on the eve of the decathlon, it was confirmed that he will not be competing.

France’s leading female hope is the European 100m hurdles champion Cyrena Samba-Mayela, who appeared to be timing her run to a home Olympics perfectly when she triumphed in Rome in a personal best of 12.31, then the world lead.

However, she suffered an untimely setback with a bout of Covid soon after, while her mark was overtaken by US trials winner Masai Russell (12.25) and Jamaica’s 2021 world U20 champion Ackera Nugent (12.28).

But the 100m hurdles is an event replete with jeopardy, and Samba-Mayela’s chances are as good as any. She has certainly done everything possible to be in the gold medal hunt, relocating to Florida last year to train with coach John Coghlan, who guided Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn to gold in Tokyo.

Camacho-Quinn will be among those who could deny Samba-Mayela, but the Frenchwoman may fly over those 10 barriers just a little faster with the energy of a home crowd to power her down the straight.

The Paris Diamond League meeting may have been Mayer’s downfall, but it elevated his teammate Gabriel Tual into medal contention.

The European 800m champion moved to a new level, as one of three men who broke 1:42 in the fastest race of the year.

Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati (1:41.56) won from Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi (1:41.58) and Tual (1:41.61) but you could have thrown a blanket over all three of them at the finish.

Sedjati ran even faster in Monaco five days later (1:41.46), and will start favourite for the Olympic gold medal, but Tual confirmed his exceptional form with another third place there in 1:42.10.

In the middle distance, championship racing is more often decided by tactics than time, and Tual has proved he has the footspeed to feature if things fall his way, and a French crowd might just put wings on his heels.

France is used to having a contender in the men’s pole vault but this time it is not former world record-holder and 2012 Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie, who fell short of selection at the age of 37.

In his absence, Thibaut Collet will step up as the French hope to the plate, but he faces one of the biggest tasks of any athlete to the Marseillaise and the tricolore flag over the stadium.

Defending Olympic champion and world record-holder Mondo Duplantis of Sweden (6.24m this year) is a class above all, but if he comes back to the pack for some reason, Collet is one of the men who could take advantage.

He finished fifth in the pole vault in Budapest, and has set a personal best of 5.95m in June this year, which ranks him equal fourth on this year’s world list.

Other athletes in the spotlight for the host nation include Alice Finot, the European 3000m steeplechase champion who finished fourth at the World Championships in Budapest last year, and Sasha Zhoya, the 2021 world U20 110m hurdles champion.

But whether any of these athletes step on to the top step of the podium or not, the passionate support of their compatriots as they compete at a home Olympics will remain a highlight of their lives.

Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics