After the successes of previous editions, the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs is organizing the 5th edition of the “Relay around the world” on April 2nd.
Thanks to the collective mobilization of the French diplomatic network, the Relay around the world has become a highlight of French sports diplomacy on the international stage. Each participating embassy or consulate is responsible for organizing a sports event from 9am to 10am local time before handing over the relay to the next time zone, ensuring the relay lasts for 24 hours from New Zealand to Los Angeles.
The Paris 2024 Games showed how sports can build bridges and bring people together regardless of their origins, beliefs, or convictions. The Relay around the world symbolizes the desire to unite around essential values such as friendship, respect, and excellence for Olympic values; determination, equality, inspiration, and courage for Paralympic values.
In a fragmented world, it is more important than ever to keep alive the “spirit of the Games” and the spirit of sports, fostering fraternity, cohesion, and inclusion. This year, the relay will showcase the sports actions and collaborations carried out worldwide by the French diplomatic network and the entire “Team France”. The enthusiasm around this relay (with 60 participating posts) demonstrates our collective ability to mobilize our agents, expatriate communities, and foreign ecosystems, continuing the momentum of the Paris 2024 Games in preparation for the 2030 Winter Alps Games.
For example, the embassy in Angola will bring together students from 6 schools in Luanda for 3×3 basketball, 5-a-side football, and athletics tournaments followed by medal and certificate presentations. The embassy in Vietnam will focus on skating with the exceptional presence of Surya Bonaly; the Berlin embassy will unite the German sports ecosystem and the network of Francophone embassies for a large walk in Tiergarten; and the embassy in Costa Rica will host a public event, especially for young people, to discover petanque, zumba, rugby, balance bikes, and athletics.
The Paris stage of the Relay highlights France’s determination to host major sports events, including the biggest cycling events from the Tour de France to the cycling world championships in Savoie in 2027. MEAE officials, Sports, Youth and Association Life Ministry, the Swiss embassy (which will host the start of the women’s Tour de France this summer), and AEFE will come together on bicycles to show their commitment to a more united world through sports.
In 2025, the Relay brought together 69 embassies, consulates, and overseas territories for a total of over 10,000 participants! Here is the link to the video of the 2025 Relay: [youtube link].
