We didn’t know Zinédine Zidane was so passionate about sports. The French football legend attended several events of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games last summer, at the Arena Champ-de-Mars for the start of the judo week, at Roland-Garros to follow the Carlos Alcaraz duel. Rafael Nadal or at the Arena Paris Sud to support the tricolor table tennis prodigies, the brothers Alexis and Félix Lebrun. And for good reason, “Zizou” was one of the great characters at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on July 26. He plays squarely in the introduction recorded at the Stade de France with Jamel Debbouze.
Tony Estanguet, President of the Paris Olympic Organizing Committee, talks about how he recruited Zidane. “The first time I met Zidane was at Roland Garros, a little over a year before the Games. I explained to him that I wanted to put him in the spotlight during the Games, because France 98 had brought so much to French sport! He immediately told me yes, but he didn’t know until very late what he would do”explained Estanguet to Parisian. The native of Marseille had nothing planned. As a reminder, according to Marca, the former Real coach refused numerous requests (from clubs and federations) while waiting to succeed Didier Deschamps at the head of the Blues.
Zidane but not Mbappé
The three-time Olympic canoe slalom champion also dreamed of involving Roland-Garros legend Rafael Nadal in the opening ceremony and the Bull of Manacor also jumped at the chance. “Paris also had to pay tribute to Nadal, the most Parisian of legendary sportsmen. I called him when I was in Martinique for the torch relay. Same, he immediately accepted”says Estanguet. Towards the end of this unforgettable evening, Zidane reappeared on the stage of the Trocadéro to give the flame to his Spanish friend/Real supporter.
As he specifies in this interview in The ParisianTony Estanguet had thought of Kylian Mbappé, the star player of the France team. “He was interested, but it depended on whether he participated in the Games or not, because it had to make sense”he clarified. The French phenomenon, who played Euro 2024 in Germany in June and July, did not obtain the agreement of Real Madrid (to whom he had given his agreement to sign after the end of his contract at PSG) to participate in the Olympic Games organized in the capital (and throughout France for football tournaments).
