The Olympics are teaching the French to cheer again

The Olympic games are doing something very odd to France. Traditionally, the country has embraced jaded critique as a national character trait. Now the hosts of the games, who on July 31st ranked second in the medal table, seem to be shrugging off their studied glumness and reaching for superlatives as if for a bottle of chilled summer rosé. Léon Marchand, the swimming champion, has become “une nouvelle star”. After the spectacular opening ceremony along the Seine on July 26th Le Monde, the bible of the understated Paris intellectual, went full tabloid: “MAGIC!”