A French revolution: How France produced badminton world champions
France recently achieved historic success in badminton with two world championship titles, despite the sport historically lacking national prominence. The success is attributed to a long-term, systematic development program established by the French federation since 1980.
Why it matters
It demonstrates how institutional investment and long-term planning can elevate a niche sport to international competitive success.
“I am going to walk on the road, and probably no one cares.”Alex Lanier had just become a world champion, the first Frenchman to win the men’s singles title at the BWF World Championships. A few hours earlier, Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue had become France’s first badminton world champions, winning the mixed doubles title.Two gold medals on the same day in New Delhi. A moment that should have changed the way a country looked at badminton.Lanier was not entirely convinced.“There will be nobody waiting for us, I think,” Gicquel said when asked what kind of reception he expected at the airport back home.There was humour in both answers, but also a truth about where French badminton sits in the sporting landscape. France is a country that has produced football World Cup winners, Grand Tour cyclists, Olympic champions and some of rugby’s greatest teams.
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