And suddenly, Antoine Dupont threw himself into the euphoric crowd. It happened under the Grande Halle de La Villette, in the early hours of Sunday, July 28. The newly-crowned Olympic rugby sevens champions, the first French gold medallists of the Games, inaugurated the festive parade of medal winners at Club France, in Paris's 19^th arrondissement. The national team's star player, suddenly wearing stuffed bunny ears, stretched out in the arms of the crowd in the heart of this stadium without grass or stands.

The venue, open to the general public for €5, is the meeting point for French athletes and their supporters. It's already shaping up to be one of Paris's party hubs and a temple to national chauvinism for the next two weeks.

A sweaty crowd in blue football or rugby shirts, with French flags painted on their cheeks and beer cups in hand, greeted the new figurehead of French Olympic sport. In this buzzing arena of supporters, which can accommodate up to 5,000 people in a nightclub atmosphere, the clamor never ceased to rise as the day progressed and the events were broadcast on giant screens.

All it took was a small spark. The mass enthusiasm for rugby combined with the eclecticism of the Olympics rounded off the first day of festivities for French fans. The atmosphere, akin to a World Cup final, spread far beyond the Parc de La Villette.

In every stadium, from Saturday morning, there was the same fervor. Even though he was eliminated in the 400 m freestyle, David Aubry will remember his name being chanted from the top of the stands at Paris La Défense Arena, which he caught every time he lifted his head out of the water. Charlotte Bonnet, who is competing in her fourth Games, couldn't believe it after the women's 4 × 100 m qualifier: "We could hear the clamor from the warm-up pool." "It's crazy that the crowd is so loud for a heat session," confirmed Australia's Ariarne Titmus, a few hours after her 400 m freestyle title.

At Roland-Garros, the stands on the Philippe-Chatrier court were full, and quite boisterous, even at lunchtime, a far cry from the usual French Grand Slam tournament. At the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille, loud cheers accompanied Victor Wembanyama and his teammates from the French basketball team right from training, an hour before facing Brazil.

No scientist (as far as we can tell) has ever been able to quantify the benefit in watts sent by a crowd back to an athlete. So we'll never be able to measure the tenths that the French athletes gained on Saturday. The medal counter, on the other hand, offers an answer that is anything but just a statistic. Four medals for France, three places in the finals and a first gold at the end of the opening day. This is four times better than in Tokyo, the silent Games, with no attendees due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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