Here’s why the Olympics have a French connection (and it ain’t just Paris 2024)

Ever wondered why French is spoken during medal announcements at the Olympic Games? The truth is that while the ancient Olympics originated in Greece, its modern incarnation is very much a French affair.

The Games were revived in the 1890s by a French nobleman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who now holds a questionable legacy. As Paris prepares to host the 2024 Olympics, 100 years since it last held them, here's why so much about the modern Olympics is fundamentally French.

It's connected to a French nobleman's efforts

Born in Paris in 1863, Coubertin dedicated his life to rejuvenating the ancient Greek tradition. His heart, fittingly and rather gruesomely, rests in the Coubertin Grove in Olympia, Greece. Coubertin envisioned the Olympics as a pacifist exercise that could foster international cooperation and peace, especially after France's...