Vive La France at the World championships
France achieved a historic milestone at the 2026 World Badminton Championships by winning both the mixed doubles and men's singles titles. Athletes and officials attribute this success to increased professionalization, better infrastructure, and a shift in the national sporting mentality.
Why it matters
The victory marks a significant shift in the global badminton landscape, showing how targeted investment can elevate a nation's performance in a non-traditional sport.
The French are known for a lot of things but badminton isn’t one of them. Till Sunday, when the country that has never been considered among the top nations even in Europe created history at the 2026 World championships, in more ways than one.
Less than two hours after Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue stroked and smashed their way into history books as the first-ever French World champions in the sport, Alex Lanier won the men’s title to join the celebrations. The wins, however, were anything but fluke given the recent rise of French players on the BWF circuit.
“It’s amazing, 10 years ago no French player could have even thought about so that makes us feel happy and proud,” Gicquel admitted. That was also when he and Delrue first came together as a pair and since then, have seen the development of the sport back home from close quarters.
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