Since Antiquity, the rules have changed a lot. The modern Games have brought with them their share of fights, heroes and changes. Several decades later, how can we not think of the flight of Jesse Owens during the 1936 Berlin Games, trampling live on the racist theses of the Nazi regime, or of the shocking image of the 1968 Mexico Games where we sees Tommie Smith, John Carlos and Peter Norman, gloved fists raised to the sky in protest?

Between scandals, boycotts, controversies and messages of hope, the Palais de la Porte Dorée looks back on the terrible history of the Olympic Games and reveals, through nearly 400 works, documents, archive films and photographs , how the playing field has transformed over the years into a vast political arena.