Why is it past tense

Question

Il remporte un succés immédiat auprès du public. This sentence is translated to

It was an immediate success with audiences,

Where is the past tense coming from why is the original not in passé composé?

Accepted Answer

Joaquin, 
In French, ‘historical’ articles are usually written in present tense, as if the events are happening with the reader and writer witnessing them as they occur. Past and future are relative to the ‘present’ being described.
In English past tense is usual for these types of articles and stories.
This difference is not reserved for ancient history, but also in narratives and biographies etc such as this. 
Hence you will often see a ‘tense shift’ when translating such articles to preserve the most appropriate tense of the respective languages.
 https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/historical-tenses/