We just celebrated 30 years of family Olympics!

In 1992, my uncle Philippe Delachenal had the fantastic idea to create our family Olympics. Every 4 years since, we gather in the French Savoie. Starting with the 1st edition, it has become a “can’t miss” date for all of us. Us? We are all the descendants from my great grand grandparents along with our families.

And I just come back (dates have changed due to COVID) from the 8th edition and we were 239 coming from different countries. In 1992, I was 17 years old, and so excited to discover it, since meeting the family every summer in Savoie was already my favorite, synonym of mountain hikes, biking, swimming in lakes, laughing with my cousins etc. And I was so proud of winning a few medals in a very sporty family. Now I am 47 years old, and my two daughters really embraced the event for the first time. They are 9 and 7, and their eyes were wide opened, their heart ready to share. I see in their eyes the same passion that I experienced. 

You may wonder what those Family Olympics are made of? 7 intense days. It starts with an opening ceremony, with a torch relay passing by the different family houses and a speech from the dean of the family. We even have badges with our names on it considering how many we are and the growing new generation. It ends with a closing ceremony with medals (only for the kids) and as my little one says a “disco party” with everyone dancing, I mean everyone. And every day there is a competition: volleyball, cycling (more than 100 of us climbing the famous, at least for us, col du Frene), table tennis, badminton, triathlon in relay, swimming, folklo relay and many more. And since all family have talents other than sport, we celebrate them in other ways, for example with the “my cousin is an artist” expo, a concert in a church, a rock concert, a theatre night etc. This edition, we even had a workshop on climate change to understand what we can do, each one of us, to make a positive difference. And very important, there is one special moment when we spend time remembering where we all come from, remembering the ones who are already gone, sometimes too early. It is all about not forgetting where we come from, our history, and who we are.

Some of this year highlights, my girls participating in the kids triathlon relay, choosing the swimming part and giving it all. One of my uncles, 80 years old, reaching the top of the mountain not too long after the first ones on the hike day. My cousin from Vancouver playing her composition on the harp and later on being asked for marriage at the closing ceremony by her boyfriend. My wife running the torch relay in between the mountains and wine yards with so many family members, along with our girls biking. The reading of texts written by cousins on a mountain accident that was fatal to two of us in 1958 and marked family forever. And there are so many more. Those family Olympics create dreams, and memories. 

And yes we are all different and everything is not easy. We can have different political convictions, different religions in some cases, but we are family, and we are united. We celebrate talents, we embrace diversity, we value efforts, and most important we love and deeply respect each other. Philippe, the founder and my uncle (by the way, he is 72 and I lost to him in cycling even though this year I was in a much better shape), has built a great legacy for our family and each one of us. A family gathering that inspires us, one that makes us want to be better persons. These family Olympics are a very unique celebration of Humanity.