On the side of Avenue de France, in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, home to the Ministry of Sports, one champion is giving way to another. It is now up to Roxana Maracineanu to oversee the organization of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, a shining example of French sport.
A former world champion in the 200-meter backstroke in 1998 and a silver medalist in the same discipline two years later at the Sydney Olympics, Roxana Maracineanu was born in Bucharest in 1975. She arrived in France, where she sought political asylum. A graduate of ESCP Europe, she considers herself “entirely French and entirely Romanian.”
However, the new Minister of Sports is not a “novice” in politics, as she was elected on the Socialist Party list during the regional elections in 2010.
On her desk, one file stands out at the top of the pile: the financing of French sport. Indeed, the sports budget is expected to decrease by 6.2% for the year 2019, having already decreased by 1.1% for the current fiscal year.
