In just a few days, France will launch the Semaine Olympique et Paralympique -SOP- 2026, which will take place from 30 March to 4 April in schools and universities across the country, as well as in other connected educational settings. The initiative is organised by the Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français -CNOSF- together with the Comité Paralympique et Sportif Français -CPSF-, with the involvement of the State, school and university sport federations, and the Agence pour l’enseignement français à l’étranger -AEFE-.

The 2026 edition, the tenth since the launch of the week in 2017, will focus on the involvement of the educational community through three strands: sporting participation, volunteering and support for teams and athletes. Framed as part of the legacy of Paris 2024 and coming just days after the Milano Cortina 2026 Games, the SOP will once again extend across mainland France, the overseas territories and French schools abroad, with the aim of mobilising pupils, students, teachers, families, associations and the wider sports movement around Olympism and Paralympism.

What happens during the SOP inside educational centres

In practice, the SOP takes the form of sports initiation sessions, the discovery of Olympic and Paralympic disciplines, practical workshops, collective challenges and meetings with high-level athletes. In higher education, tournaments, local campus actions and activities open to student associations and university sports structures are also planned, with institutions able to register their own projects within the official programme.

The week does not stop at the playground or the gym. French educational material also presents it as a teaching tool for working on classroom content through sport, with resources linked to Olympic and Paralympic history, symbols, citizenship, health, music, the arts and sports culture. Added to this are participation kits, communication materials and action sheets designed to support schools in organising activities adapted to different ages and settings.

How it is used to spread Olympism and Paralympism

One of the SOP’s central aims is to bring the values of Olympism and Paralympism closer to pupils and students through educational and playful tools. Official materials place among its objectives raising awareness of those values, using sport as a teaching tool, discovering Olympic and Paralympic disciplines in cooperation with the sports movement, and encouraging interest in civic and voluntary participation. The initiative is aimed at teachers, students and families, from early years education through to university.

The Paralympic dimension also has a specific place within the programme. The SOP includes the discovery of parasports, shared activities and actions designed to change perceptions of disability in the school environment. That work appears explicitly in the week’s educational aims and is supported by resources prepared for different age groups, alongside practical proposals intended to raise awareness through direct experience.

A week connecting schools, clubs and leading figures

The SOP also works as a point of contact between educational centres and the sports network in each area. The CNOSF and various federations have developed project maps to identify participating institutions and make it easier for schools to connect with nearby clubs and organisations, with the aim of turning that week into an opportunity to build links between schools, associations, federations and local authorities. In that logic, some sector calls present the SOP as a concrete opportunity for clubs to approach schools and offer activities suited to their resources.

The scale of the previous edition gives an idea of how important this event has become in the French educational calendar. In 2025, there were 1,990 projects and 710,000 participating pupils and students, and the 2026 edition will have Marie Bochet and Nikola Karabatic as its patrons. The CNOSF presents the Paralympic skier as an inspiring figure for an entire generation, while the former handball player, a three-time Olympic champion, is one of the names chosen to embody this edition. From 30 March to 4 April, the SOP will once again bring that work into classrooms, playgrounds, gyms and campuses across the country.