Commentary: Will French grouchiness snuff out the Olympics flame?

PARIS: French diver Alexis Jandard committed an Olympics-sized gaffe recently at the inauguration of the new aquatic centre built for the Paris summer games. He spectacularly wiped out during a synchronised dive - in front of President Emmanuel Macron and a crowd of thousands.

The 26-year-old instantly turned into a viral meme, prompting French online commentators to joke that his fall symbolised how badly France itself was going to fail at hosting the Olympics.

The reactions were typical of the very Gallic grouchiness and fatalistic irony that have become the norm with roughly 100 days to go and just as the Olympics flame has been lit.

Many Parisians are planning to flee, darkly predicting that the capital will become an uninhabitable, crowded mess; the transport system will collapse under the influx of 16 million expected visitors; or a terror attack will hit the opening ceremony on the river Seine.

Olympics organisers and city officials have sought to reassure residents that the city is ready. Much has been made of how “magical” the historic centre of Paris will be when it is transformed into an open-air sports arena with events at monuments such as the Eiffel Tower and Place de la Concorde.

Parisians should perhaps channel Jandard who, instead of giving in to the grumps, reacted to his wipeout with self-deprecating wit and total chill. “Have fun, this is the moment to mock me, I deserve it!” he said with a grin in an online interview. “That’s life, it happens. I’ll take it with a smile and I’d rather it happen now than during the Games.”

Unfortunately, not everyone in France is as easy-going as Jandard. Instead, nearly every issue related to the Games is refracted through the prism of the cultural, racial and economic