Aloïs Forlande wrote the book Tim and Cleo (The Three Columns), whose story unfolds in the heart of Paris as the capital prepares to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The author shares his thoughts on this project and his experience of the Games, which also inspired him to create a character. Another example of legacy.

How did this book come about?

It all started with a writing workshop and a session of automatic writing: you start with an image and write without ever putting down the pen, you begin with an idea and just keep going. It's a little absurd, but I really enjoyed it. In the text I produced that day, there was a love story between two neighbors. This story stayed with me, and I wanted to turn it into a rather unusual love story.

Why use the Paris Olympics as the backdrop for this story?

It's really due to the time of year I wrote it, in 2023. There was a lot of talk about the Olympics. I find it easier to write about what you know. I'm a sports enthusiast, so quite quickly, I introduced elements related to sports into my love story. The connection between the Rugby World Cup in France and the Paris Olympics created a special atmosphere.

How would you describe this atmosphere?

In Paris, it was very joyful: a palpable joy, anticipation, almost a frenzy. The idea of ​​holding the opening ceremony in a completely open space was absolutely audacious. In my book, the Minister of Police plays a rather important role, by the way. It was a joyous atmosphere, one that we're unlikely to ever experience again.

Were the Olympics also an important temporal marker for your story?

Yes, it definitely helped to flesh out the story. It's not a book about the Olympics, though; it ends before that. I didn't want to describe the Olympics. They were more the backdrop, the atmosphere, than the actual plot of the book. The plot revolves around when Tim and Cléo will finally meet and begin their relationship.

How did you experience these Games?

Even before it started, I was quite enthusiastic. I went to see rugby sevens matches at the Stade de France and wheelchair tennis at Roland Garros. By building stadiums so close to the Eiffel Tower and using the Grand Palais for fencing, the city opened itself up to the Olympic Games. In the book, I also talk about the 1924 Olympics with rugby and the famous final against the United States. That's something that really interests me. I like rugby today, but I also enjoy reading about rugby in its early days. The 1924 Olympic final is truly something special. The lineup is strange; the United States wasn't a rugby nation at all. The Anglo-Saxons had boycotted the Games, so there were only smaller nations, and the French national team couldn't stand being challenged by the United States. We got out of it by throwing punches and kicks. It was a very violent final, hence the long period without rugby at the Olympic Games afterwards.

You also translate the growing criticisms surrounding these major events with those you call anti-modernity.

It was something that just came to me. I wanted a dissonant voice in contrast to the moralizing voice of the government. Perhaps it's also because I'm sometimes a little resistant to the modern world.

Did these Games inspire you as an author?

I was really struck by blind football. What they manage to do with one less sense, I found it quite incredible. Plus, we won the gold medal, so it was absolutely fantastic! It made me think, and I wanted to use blindness to create a character. In that sense, Paris 2024 inspired me. I'm currently trying to write a thriller, and there's a blind person among the characters.

What can you tell us about the character of marathon runner Ronan Marthon, who is omnipresent in your book?

It's quite curious; he's a character who doesn't want to die. I had imagined him for another book project, which never came to fruition, but I had this marathon runner in mind. While writing, he came back to me, and I managed to integrate him into the story. I thought it fit well. We had a great marathon champion, Alain Mimoun, and for me, winning a marathon is almost beyond sport. There's the notion of suffering. I needed a character who wins a marathon, so I imagined that a Frenchman had won in 1960 in Rome. That's also why I changed the names of the cities; Rome becomes Rolme. I wanted to signal to the reader that it wasn't historically accurate.

Does the figure of the marathon runner inspire you?

Yes, and there's also the dimension of memory. The fact that this marathon runner no longer remembers his exploits and confuses his own story with that of his rugby-playing father—that intrigued me. I find it terrible to have made such a mark on people and yet remember nothing of yourself. It reminds me of the rugby player Sébastien Chabal, who stated that he had virtually no memory of his career, even though he's barely 40 years old. Memory is fundamental, in sports as in society as a whole.