Antoine Dupont almost single-handedly delivers Paris it's poster moment - as France rugby sevens seal victory against Fiji to clinch the host's first gold medal at the 2024 Olympics

The crowd rose to its feet to sing Que je t’aime by Johnny Hallyday. They sung it for Antoine Dupont and they wanted to sing it all through the night. The French already loved their humble superstar but after this performance of sporting greatness they will love him for the rest of his days.

Almost single-handedly, Dupont delivered Paris its poster moment. Its first gold medal of its first Olympics for 100 years. A nation’s hopes rested on the shoulders of their boy from the Midi-Pyrenees and he put on a show of domination that ranks him among the greatest rugby players of all time. 

He took hold of this match like Ian Botham for England at Headingley in 1981, or Diego Maradona for Argentina at the World Cup in 1986. Dupont at Paris 2024 will be remembered alongside Kathy Freeman at Sydney 2000, Jess Ennis at London 2012 and Neymar at Rio 2016.

Play was tied at seven-all when he came off the bench at half-time and his impact was stunning. Iconic from the first touch. Two tries, one assist, the game of a lifetime. ‘I don’t have enough English words to describe this,’ he said. ‘It’s sensational. It’s unbelievable.’

Emmanuel Macron knew this was the hottest ticket in town. Moments after France booked their place in the final, the French President’s security staff arrived to sweep through the Stade de France. He joined Prince Albert and Princess Anne. Sporting diplomacy at its finest.

At an Olympics that is tainted by cheating and abuse, this was sport through its purest and most joyful lens.

After the final whistle, France’s players gathered in the middle of the pitch and danced to Will Smith’s Miami. They have been working with a cabaret dancer - as well as the cast of the Moulin Rouge - in the build-up to this competition and that was a nod to her.

I was sat next to Britain’s great Olympian Daley Thompson in the media tribune. He too was stunned. ‘Wow,’ he said, as Dupont orchestrated a magnificent second-half display. ‘This is as good as it gets.’ 

Alcohol is not on sale at these games but crowd were intoxicated on the occasion. It was as loud as any XVs match ever played on this pitch. An occasion which, for Dupont, will taste all the sweeter after he suffered the darkest night of his career here in last year’s World Cup quarter-final defeat.

Of France's squad, only Dupont had experienced noise like this. They gambled by naming him on the bench but that has been their strategy throughout this competition. There is less emphasis on starting teams in Sevens and Dupont has been at his most effective in the closing stages, when the opposition is tiring and defenders can’t handle his bullish strength.

The trade-off was sacrificing his big game mentality in the early stages. So when Fiji took the lead inside two minutes through Rayan Rebbadj, Macron and everyone else in the stadium shuffled nervously.

This final meant so much to both nations. English coach Ben Ryan is still printed on Fijian bank notes after leading them to gold in 2016. Most of their players grew up in poverty and he learnt how to manage issues among the players such as religious curses and dental problems from excessive sugar.

Fijian Sevens players are some of the most gifted rugby players on the planet so the relief when France drew level through Jefferson-Lee Joseph was palpable. Fiji’s biggest weapon in the early rounds was their ability to leap highest to steal the restarts but the French had their number.

Dupont was brought off the bench at half time for France’s equivalent move of the Bomb Squad. When he gets the ball in his hands, it is like David Beckham lined up a free-kick on the edge of the box in his pomp. Everyone expected, hoped and prayed that something spectacular would happen.

And so it did. Just 20 seconds after his introduction, he got the ball in his hands for the first time. He was 70 metres from the Fijian try line but he backs himself. There are wide open spaces in the Sevens game and he charged down the left wing like a baby bull. Strength, speed, power, skill. He finished it off with a hitch-kick and an offload that set up a try for Aaron Grandidier. 

This was Dupont’s stage. With 90 seconds to go, after a tap-and-go, he was over for a try of his own. He was the shortest man on the pitch but the most influential by the length of the River Seine.

The clock winds down quickly in Sevens. Victory belonged to France but in the final seconds he came again, scoring from the back of a drive from his own lineout. From the bottom of a pile of bodies, he emerged to the sound of the final whistle with a golden smile. The rest of France smiled with him.