The Olympics and Paralympics ignited Paris. But can they spark off a movement revolution?

I’m grateful to say that Paris felt a little bit like a second home over the summer given the time I spent at the heart of world’s greatest sporting events. Throughout June, July, August and into September I saw first hand a city that was brimming with sport and physical activity – and importantly the goodwill and urgency to do more.

From sports-related events with UNESCO, who hosted the “Change the Game” Global Ministerial Sport Conference and “Bicycle for All” days, to the National Olympic and Paralympic houses and sports brands’ playgrounds that offered spaces to try out all manner of games, Paris lived up to its slogan of Games Wide Open.

So what happens now that the curtain has come down on a truly unforgettable summer of sport? The Olympic and Paralympic Village will be converted into affordable housing. Locals will benefit from new metro and bus infrastructure, and tourists will continue to flock to the city … but maybe this time recognizing landmarks as the sites of skateboarding, breakdancing or blind football successes. So far, so good. But there’s a huge opportunity for the Olympics and Paralympics to have an even longer-lasting, economically important and more human legacy – that’s the legacy of movement.

There are more than 13 million people living in the Paris metropolitan area, who have been touched by the excitement of Olympic and Paralympic Games. They may have been inspired by the likes of Leon Marchand, Simone Biles, Beatrice Vio, Mondo DuPlantis, Athanasios Ghavelas or Sifan Hassan.

A small few may represent France at Milan/Cortina 2026 or Los Angeles 2028, but the majority will hopefully recognize the physical and mental benefits that sport and physical activity can bring. Because currently, Parisians and the rest of the world are not doing enough physical activity to stay healthy. New data from the WHO reveals that globally 31% of adults are inactive and do not meet recommended levels of physical activity (just 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week).

A WHO report of physical activity in France in 2022 delivered the terrifying statistic that 82% of boys aged between 11 and 17 were deemed physically inactive, and the figure for girls was even worse: 92%.

If this inactivity trend continues, global levels of physical inactivity are projected to rise to 35% in adults by 2030 (from 26% in 2010), and the economic cost of treating preventable health conditions by engaging in a more active lifestyle will exceed $300 billion per year by 2030.

I was excited to see that when Paris won the bid for the 2024 Games, it put developing the practice of sport and physical activity as the cornerstone of its legacy strategy and straight away looked for both public and private partnerships to this end. One outcome was an initiative based on “Schools on the Move” in Finland that introduced 30 minutes of daily physical activity in primary schools in addition to regular PE classes. Last year, 11,000 schools across France applied to take part.

Looking to the private sector and the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry, our members have also stepped up to the challenge to combat growing physical inactivity. In June this year, many signed a joint statement calling for urgent and coordinated action to tackle the crisis.

As part of that statement, members committed to “leverage the power of major sporting events to raise awareness of the importance of physical activity and deliver community-level initiatives targeting inactive people”. What was different about this commitment was that our members committed to tackling inactivity by working together through multistakeholder collaboration, putting aside competitive differences.

As WFSGI CEO, I’m proud to share some examples of what that collaboration looks like in Paris, pre- and post-Olympics and Paralympics.

We should not underestimate the power of a sustained improvement in physical activity levels to drive economic growth, transform our cities and build climate resilience in the community.

I’m confident there can be many more positive long-term outcomes from Paris 2024 that can provide the benchmark for future multi-sport events. But they can only be realized if the public and private sector continue to work together and invest in programmes that can reach kids and teenagers who have fallen into a sedentary lifestyle. Sport only has the power to change the world if there are people willing to watch it and to play it. Collaboration and commitment are key to get us all moving more.