Almost 100 days before the opening ceremony, the organization of the Paris Olympic Games is entering its home stretch. Ceremony, transport, equipment, Russian athletes… Overview of the hot files on the desk of Tony Estanguet, the boss of Paris 2024.
Published on: 04/14/2024 – 10:33 Modified on: 04/14/2024 – 10:31
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Despite security nervousness focused on the opening ceremony and still lukewarm opinion, the clock is ticking and the Paris Olympic Games will open in almost a hundred days, on July 26.
“We must remain very humble because in the home stretch, everything can change, as for the athletes,” summarizes the boss of the Olympics, Tony Estanguet, who is going to Greece on Tuesday for the lighting of the flame.
Opening ceremony on the Seine: maximum tension
This ceremony is the most highlighted moment but also the most feared by the authorities. This first in the history of the Olympic Games, a ceremony outside the stadium and on the Seine, attracts attention, even more since the attack in Moscow on March 22 claimed by the Islamic State group.
To better survey and secure the area along the river, it will take a week. Onlookers will be asked to show their credentials with a QR code. “Today, neither the Iranian team, nor the Israeli team, nor the American team are expressing their reservations, much less the IOC which is satisfied every day with the seriousness with which France prepares this opening ceremony “, says the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin.
The president of the Paris-2024 Organizing Committee, Tony Estanguet, during a press conference in Saint-Denis on April 10. © Bertrand Guay, AFP
To ensure security as best as possible, the size of the festival was reduced: the number of spectators who could attend for free increased from 500,000 to 222,000. With those who paid for their place at the bottom of the platforms, they should being some 320,000 in total. This is “probably not the last touch-up”, assures a security source.
There are “fallback plans”, the President of the Republic said recently. But it “seems impossible to move a ceremony like that given the deadline, plan B must in my opinion consist of degraded versions of what is planned”, breathes a senior official.
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Meanwhile, the recruitment of artists who will participate in the show on the Seine continues. As well as the tests of anti-drone devices because they do not yet seem to be ready, several security sources told AFP.
Transport: metro, bike, hike?
On the transport side, there is general mobilization to avoid chaos this summer, with 15% more trains than a normal summer, to absorb a flow similar to a normal winter working day. But the daily difficulties of users on several metro and RER lines are worrying. “If things went badly, we would damage France’s credit,” warned Jean Castex, CEO of RATP and former tenant of Matignon, in an interview with L’Équipe.
The Paris metro will be put to the test during the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer. © Julien de Rosa, AFP (archives)
The authorities are calling on those who can to avoid transport during the period. “You shouldn’t be afraid to do a little walking, it’s good for your health,” said Valérie Pécresse, head of Île-de-France Mobility, which manages transport in the Ile-de-France region. “Perhaps it’s time to get out your bike,” added the Minister for Transport, Patrice Vergriete.
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Olympic equipment delivered on time
A great source of satisfaction for the State and the organizers, the Olympic village and the Olympic aquatic center in Saint-Denis were built on time. They are now being developed. The Olympic Organizing Committee has already installed 4,200 beds out of some 14,200 in the village.
Scaffolding and temporary stands go up in ephemeral stadiums like at the Concorde or the Champs de Mars, in the very center of Paris, as well as at the Palace of Versailles.
The Saint-Denis aquatic center, photographed on March 28, 2024. © Dimitar Dilkoff, AFP
“We feel after months of questions, of concerns (…), that we are entering a phase of ‘Olympic mania’”, assures Emmanuel Grégoire, first deputy at Paris town hall . The fact remains that the Olympics still seem far away in people’s minds, with only four out of ten French people saying they are looking forward to them “impatiently”.
On the organizers’ side, it’s “absolute concentration”. And to build fervor, they are banking on the torch relay festivities and a very big arrival party on May 8 in Marseille.
The Russians remain authorized to participate under a neutral banner and under strict conditions, but should be few in number. Like the Belarusians, they will not parade on the Seine on the evening of July 26.
In a context of very strong tensions between Moscow and Paris, Emmanuel Macron said he had “no doubt” about the fact that Russia will target the organization of the Olympic Games. “Unfounded” accusations, Moscow replied.
With AFP
