During the Olympic opening ceremony a lot of people on Twitter were asking why everything was in French first & not English. Well the BBC have this answer about it:
Why is French the first language of the Olympics?
At the opening ceremony, all the main speeches were first given in French, followed by English.
But why? Is it because French is still considered to be the language of diplomacy? For centuries, political delegates from around the world learned to speak French.
French is the first language of the Olympic movement – which is based in the French-speaking city of Lausanne – in honour of Frenchman Baron de Coubertin, who developed the modern Games in the 1890s.
Many have argued that English should be the first language. One letter writer to the Daily Express newspaper noted that it was only after Baron de Coubertin saw the revived modern Olympic Games in Much Wenlock, Shropshire in the late 1800s, that he was inspired to bring the Games back to France.
Of course, some say the first language should be Greek.
So French being the first language of the Olympic movement is the reason although it’s good to finally see Much Wenlock mentiond as it’s sort of the forgotten 1st Olympics since the ancient Greeks!
Peter Mount's Blog 