Pieds-noirs, têtes hautes: Une histoire des sélectionnés olympiques d'Algérie

Abstract:This contribution aims to study the sports careers and biographical trajectories of French athletes from Algeria selected to compete at the Summer Olympics from 1948 to 1984. They are part of the ambiguities and turbulences of the twentieth century: decolonization and globalization, deindustrialization and emancipation, democratization and professionalization of sport. Therefore, the article provides an analysis of the construction of sports excellence proposed at the crossroads of the history of French Algerians, elite sport, and Olympism from the colonial period to the postcolonial era. Relying mainly on ten "oral history" interviews with champions who participated in the Olympic Games, we highlight several determinants structuring their itineraries. These include their urban youth in Algerian and French clubs, sports networks during the Algerian War, the role of the French army, their predominantly amateur athletic careers, their Olympic consecration, and their retraining.