It is an operation of an unprecedented nature and duration: for a year, eight young people from Seine-Saint-Denis or neighboring towns, accompanied by the editorial staff of Le Monde, will recount the impacts of the organization of Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games (JOP) in this department where many Olympic infrastructures are located, from the Stade de France to the athletes’ village and the media village, including the aquatic center.

This operation, called “Game Fields”, is financially supported by Visa, global partner of the JOPs, whose commitment aims, among other things, to offer the inhabitants of “93” – particularly the youngest among them – opportunities to take ownership of these two events and get involved in them. As always within the framework of an editorial partnership, the choice and writing of articles are the exclusive responsibility of Le Monde journalists. The partner therefore has no right to review the angles and content of the articles.

A third actor is involved in this partnership: Sport dans la ville, an integration association through sport created in 1998 and supported by Visa since 2021. Each year it supports several thousand young people from priority neighborhoods by offering them programs aimed at promoting their professional and social integration. The eight apprentice journalists participating in Terrains de Jeux were proposed to the editorial staff of Le Monde by the association.

These residents of Seine-Saint-Denis or neighboring towns are between 18 and 25 years old. Some are destined for journalism, others not, but everyone wants to tell about this Olympic year that their department is about to experience. It is not a question of talking about the preparation of competitions by high-level athletes or of discussing the challenges of organizing the Games as Le Monde already does, but rather of giving a voice to the inhabitants of “93”. as well as local actors through angles that the editorial staff would not necessarily have thought of.

Un regard original

Every week from Wednesday November 22, for a year, a subject produced as part of the operation will be published on Lemonde.fr. Four formats will follow one another throughout these fifty-two weeks: vertical videos (format particularly suited to social networks and smartphones), “classic” videos, podcasts and written press articles. Our eight budding journalists each chose a preferred format.

They will obviously be supported and supervised throughout this partnership by the editorial staff of Le Monde. The objective is that they gain in autonomy and initiative during this Olympic year, that they advance in their training courses and assimilate new skills, that they take an original look at events which will be extensively covered by the media around the world.

One of the particularities of Terrains de Jeux is also that the curtain will not fall on September 8, 2024, with the end of the Paralympic Games, but more than two months later, in mid-November. A way of reminding us that if the preparation and period of the Games easily mobilize the energies and attention of the public, the question of the legacy that the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will leave and their long-term impact on the territories which will have welcomed is just as crucial.

The Terrains de Jeux reporter team is made up of:

I’m 19 years old, I live in Pavillons-sous-Bois. I am currently on break from my law studies and I am doing civic service. My passions are reading, writing and I also like talking about social issues. I am in love with the world of podcasts. With the Terrains de Jeux project, I would like to offer you stories that will stimulate your thinking about the 2024 Games and the Parisian suburbs.

First dan in judo and passionate about sport, I joined Sport dans la ville in 2018. This association opened doors for me in the world of work and supported me in my professionalization process. I live in Saint-Ouen. Currently on a work-study program at the Paris Entertainment Company, I am studying sports management at the MBA ESG and I want my future work to have a direct link with sport.

I’m 18 years old and I’ve always lived in Drancy. Passionate about history, reading and culture, I am currently in the first year of a double degree in law and history. I am part of the Sport dans la ville association, which has opened many doors for me and thanks to which I am now participating in the Terrains de Jeux project. It is with enthusiasm that I embark on writing press articles.

I was born twenty-two years ago to journalist parents during the Algerian black decade, so my destiny could only be journalistic. This job, which for me is the pillar of a democracy, is a dream job for me. I am therefore very grateful to Sport dans la ville for participating in this important project for our neighborhoods, with a media as historic as Le Monde. I live in Villiers-le-Bel.

My name is Mylène and I am 22 years old. Currently in a master’s degree in sports management at IAE Gustave-Eiffel, I am involved in a world where sport and social affairs meet. The adventure within Sport dans la ville began in 2022 during a civic service as a communications officer. It was after this experience that I became interested in video.

I am Néhémie, 24 years old, second year communications student, I live in Bobigny. I aspire to work in communications and I collaborate with the Podcast du Monde service for the Terrains de Jeux project. What attracts me to this project: bringing out the population’s feelings about the 2024 Games, but also my curiosity in the field of sport and society.

Let me introduce myself: Yanis, 22 years old, resident of Sarcelles and third year history student. Passionate about journalism, I made it my professional goal and this project with Le Monde takes on its full meaning. It was the Sport dans la ville association, which has supported me since 2014, which introduced me to the world of journalism thanks to numerous innovative and enriching projects.

I am 18 years old, I grew up in the Parisian suburbs, I live in Drancy and I have been registered with Sport dans la ville since 2019. Thanks to this association, I completed an internship at TF1 in order to discover the profession of journalist . I have a psychology degree at Paris Cité University. I have always been passionate about writing and that is why I am embarking on this project with Le Monde this year.