Locking in Paris 2024: legacy framing and the eventification of public policy - exposing the political footprint of mega-events

This article examines how the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games became a stabilized policy project despite growing contestation of mega-events. Using an interpretive, macrosociological approach grounded in policy framing, it analyses the consolidation of a dominant pro-Olympic coalition in France (2017–2024). Based on a longitudinal qualitative corpus (interviews, policy documents, and media coverage), the study identifies three mechanisms underpinning coalition consolidation: (1) institutional lock-in, translating political choices into technical planning; (2) coalition framing, aligning divergent interests through symbolic consensus; and (3) strategic adjustments, absorbing criticism through tactical adaptations. We show how legacy framing generates legitimacy and consolidates policy trajectories, producing a lasting political footprint. While environmental impacts of mega-events are increasingly debated, these political effects remain comparatively underexamined. The article repoliticizes the Olympic narrative by exposing the normative, emotional, and institutional foundations that make it so resilient.