For Nolann Bezard, it has become a daily reflex: clicking the X icon on his phone and typing the keyword “Phryge.” Then several thousand videos of the Olympic Games mascot appear before your eyes. Less than ten seconds are enough for him to exclaim: “This, for example: the Phryge who runs the 100 meters in the Stade de France, it’s me! » Before adding, phlegmatic: “But no one knows.” This video has over a million views, but no one knows me. And that’s very good. » The 17-year-old, a final year student at Montargis (Loiret), happily accepts this status, half star, half anonymous. Only his closest friends know his double identity.
The high school student was one of the privileged few to dress in Frige’s costume, two hundred dancers or actors for ninety mascots. A small number, but a gigantic media exposure. Which has become an inexhaustible source of memes for social networks. About an extravagant soundtrack or a howl that has become a classic: “The Phryyyyyyyge!” It’s the Phryyyyyyyge! ! », the mascot throws a dance, tries a moonwalk or, drama in The Eiffel Tower stadium falls to the screams of terror of the spectators.
From the living room sofa to the locker rooms, where athletes asked to be photographed with them, the Paris 2024 mascots were the object of boundless adoration. To the point that the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games made them majestic: dressed in sequins or dressed as Léon Marchand, they set the dance floor on fire by swaying with the athletes.
Their real names are Oly and Para. The first is smaller than the second, who carries a racing sword on her right leg. Their personalities also differ. According to its designers, Oly measures each of your gestures, your effort to succeed. They (the Phryge is a genderless being) represent high-level sport. For, on the other hand, he is there to celebrate and take all the fans with him. A blessing for Nolann, who, due to his large size, dressed in the Paralympic mascot costume, both for interventions in schools, starting in April, and during the torch relay and throughout the duration of the Games. Five months jumping and haranguing the crowd.
“The revolution through sport”
Pets have “they lived their best life”in the words of the Organizing Committee. We saw them everywhere: on a jet ski in Tahiti, on the river brigade ferry on the Seine, on a BMX on the Concorde, brandishing a pistol at a shooting range, throwing a applause in the Parc des Princes. We have seen them lifting a dumbbell, on horseback, on a scooter or in the company of rapper Snoop Dogg… and even on the news sets of French and foreign television, granting interviews without even making their voices heard. The Friges were among the biggest stars of the Games, sometimes more acclaimed than the champions who won medals. They were the emblem that crystallized the joy of the spectators and exceeded all the hopes of the organizers.
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