France, hub of major sports championships in 2023

And these major global sports events, says the website Atout France, the official agency for tourism development in France, are “true boosters for attractiveness” In addition to the economic benefits to reap, such events are perfect opportunities to make France shine “in relation with highly positive values such as solidarity, inclusiveness and diversity”.

The first opportunity will occur with the Ski World Championships organising 13 competitions from 6 to 19 February in the ski stations of Méribel and Courchevel. Ski World Championships were created in 1931. The competition is held every two years and recompenses skiers on only one game in which each country may choose up to four runners. With 302, Austria, a very Alpine country, is the country with most titles in the championship’s history, followed by Switzerland and France. 

In 2023, the event is one of the most important sports events in the Alpine ski universe after the Olympic Games. It will gather athletes from all over the world. Over a two-weeks period, competitions will be organised for men and women. In total, 75 nations, 600 athletes and up to 20,000 spectators are expected every day to watch six disciplines (downhill, super-g, slalom, giant slalom, alpine combined and parallels).

In addition to the sports competitions, festive events are also programmed such as the World Ski Festival live music events, a series of 11 concerts in free access after the competitions of the day. Concerts are intended to promote French music, but also international electronic music.

The other major sport event is the Rugby World Cup international men competition, held every four years since 1987. It’s the second time, and for the 10th edition, that France is chosen as host nation. It’s the most prestigious men rugby championship in the world, and it will be held this year from 8 September to 28 October in nine French regions to welcome and host participating teams. As the dedicated website writes, this choice of country will give more people the opportunity to live the competition “at the heart of the Rugby World Cup” and more generally to participate in this flagship event for rugby. More precisely, nine French cities are candidates to host 48 rugby matches: Paris (Saint-Denis), Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Bordeaux, Nantes, Toulouse, Lille and Saint-Etienne. 

After the qualifying games held until November, 20 teams are now qualified to participate in the championship: nine European, five Oceanian, three American, two African and one Asian teams. This edition will by marked by the very first participation of the Chile team, which becomes the third South African nation to qualify for a final phase of a world cup.

The opening match starring France vs New Zealand will be held in the Stade de France in Paris (Saint-Denis), a stadium that will receive 10 games “before more than 80,000 spectators from all over the world supporting their teams”.

• General presentation of the Atout France website
• Ski World Championships website
• Rugby World Cup website