Here is France, exactly 100 days away from hosting the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. If Tony Estanguet’s Cojo and the various parties can rejoice in some successes in the set schedule, between the promise of swimming in the Seine, transport and the opening ceremony, there is still work to be done. There are 100 days left to bring him down.
100 years later, the countdown shows 100 days. A century after the last Olympic Games in Paris, the five rings, the supreme symbol of sport, will return to the capital from July 26, the start of the Olympic fortnight. In 100 days, the French will wonder, for many, if Victor Wembanyama will take the French basketball team to the highest level, or if Teddy Riner will finally win a third individual gold medal to crown his career.
Also listen: Tony Estanguet: The lighting of the flame “marks the start of the celebration of the 2024 Olympic Games”
For the moment, the main question lies in one sentence: “Will we be ready?” “. The scoffers like to make fun of the hiccups and issues that are still sensitive three months before the big kick-off, the optimists rejoice in this sports festival which they already imagine as a success. Update on the situation.
What will be ready: infrastructure delivered on time
This is the crux of the matter. The one who saw cities like Rio or Beijing explode their budget as work progressed. For the moment, the infrastructure battle has been won by Solideo, the company in charge of delivering the construction sites. JO 2024, and the Organizing Committee. Indeed, all the newly built and durable infrastructure was completed on time. Starting with the two “villages”. That of athletes was inaugurated at the end of February, in the presence of Emmanuel Macron. Although the budget was slightly revised upwards by around 100 million euros, partly due to inflation, the deadlines were met, even if the site is not yet fully operational since the accommodation is being fitted out and equipped. Same observation for the media village in Dugny (Seine-Saint-Denis), inaugurated at the beginning of March and whose housing lots are already almost all sold for after the Games.
On the sporting side, the Arena Porte de la Chapelle is satisfactory since Paris Basketball has already set up shop there as a resident club, pending the Games during which badminton and rhythmic gymnastics will take up residence there. Same story at the Saint-Denis aquatic center, opposite the Stade de France, even if its inauguration gave rise to a comical scene from the diver Alexis Jandard who somewhat failed on the diving board during a demonstration under the eyes of the media and the President of the Republic.
The less heavy work, concerning already existing equipment, like the Roucas-Blanc marina in Marseille, which will host the sailing events, went well, even though the budget was doubled (44 million euros). ‘euros). And it is now time to tackle the temporary structures, which will notably punctuate the city of Paris, such as the ephemeral stadium at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, currently being assembled, which will host blind football and beach volleyball matches.
Doubts remain: the opening ceremony
« As long as they are very secure, large events are undoubtedly among the safest places », Said Gérald Darmanin in the columns of Le Parisien. No reason, therefore, to deviate from the initial plan of an opening ceremony for the Olympic Games on the Seine. We are staying the course, with a few adjustments.
First, the number of spectators who will be able to attend from the banks of the river has been reduced to 326,000 people, compared to 600,000 originally. Then, the Minister of the Interior detailed the measures which will surround the event. Seven days before the ceremony, an anti-terrorist zone will be set up along the Seine, “ between the Bercy bridge and the Trocadéro », explained the tenant of Place Beauvau. You will therefore have to show your credentials via a QR access code and an identity document in order to enter. Note that these measures will be even more restrictive on D-Day, with an almost complete interruption of traffic.
🏅 One hundred days before the Olympic Games, Emmanuel Macron tried to reassure that the opening ceremony would be held on the Seine, while outlining for the first time “plans B and C” in the event of a terrorist threat, particularly at the Stadium of France #AFP pic.twitter.com/OJLNxvlnYR
— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) April 15, 2024
The fact remains that with the Vigipirate plan reinforced since the attack in Moscow on March 22, the terrorist threat is taken into account. And for the first time, the existence of fallback plans at the Trocadéro or the Stade de France for a reduced, but more secure ceremony was mentioned by Emmanuel Macron on Monday. Meanwhile, the tests of anti-drone devices, as they do not yet seem to be ready, several security sources told AFP. And on another note, recruitment for the artists who will participate in the show on the Seine continues.
The question: will the Seine be swimmable?
Even before the start of the Olympic Games, swimming in the Seine experienced some hiccups. During the summer of 2023, pre-Olympic test swimming events were canceled due to excessive bacteriological pollution. A cancellation decision which then caused a lot of noise, given that cleaning up the river to make it swimmable is as much a political project as it is a sporting project. At the time, World Aquatics said it was confident and assured “ understand that infrastructure projects will be completed and will provide a significant improvement in water quality for the Olympics next year ».
However, more recently, the NGO Surfrider Foundation warned on Monday against the state “ alarming » of the waters of the Seine, where several tests must be held, after having carried out a sampling campaign over six months, outside the period planned for swimming. The association carried out 14 measurements between the end of September 2023 and the end of March 2024 under the Alexandre-III and Alma bridges, sites of future triathlon and open water swimming events. Among them, 13 turn out to be “ above or even very much above » recommended thresholds for fecal contamination indicator bacteria, Escherichia coli and enterococci.
Read alsoOJ 2024 in Paris: the waters of the Seine are still not clean enough to swim in, according to an NGO
To which the Cojo responded in the voice of Tony Estanguet: “ I was a little surprised that we did a study on water qualities in the middle of winter, times when the rivers are not in a state that allows swimming. “. The latter also recalled that “theobjective, already, is to succeed in being able to swim during the summer and everything is done to ensure that this is the case from next summer » and assured “ move forward with serenity ” on the subject. As a reminder, the Paris town hall and the regional prefecture, at the head of the steering committee of the plan into which the State and communities have injected 1.4 billion euros to make the river swimmable.
The big worry: Ile-de-France transport
First of all, it should be remembered that in the application file which was presented in 2015 to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the existence of metro lines 15, 16 and 17 of the Grand Paris Express was included. It has been a long time since these promises, which evolved over time, were removed from the list. But their abandonment puts into perspective the current tensions and questions concerning the proper organization of the Ile-de-France transport network during the Games.
Currently, 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. To do this, the RATP has recruited and continues to recruit massively, whether for the positions of drivers, station agents, maintenance operators, etc. Even if it means pushing “ the training device to its maximum »assured the CEO of RATP, Jean Castex. “We couldn’t recruit more”, he added. Enough to return to a pre-Covid-19 level? Users dream of it.
Because the daily difficulties of users on several metro, RER and bus lines are worrying. “ If things went badly, we would damage France’s credit », warned Jean Castex in an interview with The Team. The authorities are increasing calls to avoid transport during the period, for those who can. “ Don’t be afraid to do a little walking, it’s good for your health », said Valérie Pécresse, head of Ile-de-France Mobilities which manages transport in the Ile-de-France region. “ Maybe it’s time to take out your bike », Added the Minister for Transport, Patrice Vergriete.
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