Paris 2024 – “The Heart of the Games”

Samuel Ducroquet, French Ambassador for Sports

Samuel Ducroquet has been France’s Ambassador for Sports since February 2023. A career diplomat, he joined the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs as an international civil volunteer at the Permanent Representation of France to the European Union in Brussels and was later appointed to the European Union Directorate at the French Foreign Ministry. Samuel Ducroquet was the political advisor and contact person for sports at the French Embassy in Qatar (2015-2018). His experience as sports advisor/Olympic attaché at the French Embassy in Tokyo (2018-2021) enabled him to gain genuine expertise in the area of sports diplomacy, strengthened by his role of senior manager in charge of the dignitaries programme within the International Relations Directorate of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games until January 2023.

Dan Mickelson, Head of Sports Diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State

Dan Mickelson joined the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) as the Sports Diplomacy Chief in January 2024. Prior to joining ECA, he was the Chief of the Immigration and Employment Division in the State Department’s Visa Office where he often worked alongside USOPC, FIFA, and the major sports leagues. Throughout his 14-year career with the Department as a Civil Servant, he has also served as the Deputy Director in the Office of Counterterrorism Finance and Designations, a Senior Advisor for the Deputy Secretary of State, and in temporary roles at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa.

Trevon Jenifer, 4-Time Paralympic Medalist in Wheelchair Basketball (Gold in Rio, Tokyo and Paris and Bronze in London)

Trevon Jenifer began his athletic journey in 1992, participating in Wheelchair Track and Basketball with New Life Inc. He holds American records in the 100, 200, 400, and 800 meters for the U11 and U14 age groups. In addition to his athletic achievements, Jenifer is a motivational speaker and has delivered keynote addresses for organizations like the Americans with Disabilities Act and Horace Mann School. He also published his first book, From the Ground Up, in 2006. Jenifer works for the U.S. Secret Service as a Personnel Security Specialist in the Security Management Division.

Jules Naudet, Co-director of the documentary

Jules Naudet and his brother Gédéon Naudet are French-American filmmakers who moved to the U.S. in 1989 and became citizens in 1999. In 2001, while filming a documentary on the Engine 7, Ladder 1 firehouse in New York City, Jules captured the clearest footage of American Airlines Flight 11 crashing into the North Tower of the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks. This footage became central to the 2002 documentary “9/11.” Jules is also known for “Hope, Gloves and Redemption” (1999) and “January 6th” (2022).

MODERATOR: Rick Maese, Senior Sports Journalist, The Washington Post

Rick Maese is a veteran sports features writer for The Washington Post who covers a variety of subject areas, including the Olympics; health and safety in football; and legal, political and social issues across the sports world. He has written about the NFL since joining The Washington Post in 2009, including three seasons as beat writer for the Washington Redskins. Maese, who previously wrote for The Baltimore Sun, The Orlando Sentinel and The Albuquerque Tribune, has covered Super Bowls, the World Cup, World Series, seven Olympics and most every other major sporting event.