In six months, delegations will parade down the Seine River and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be officially inaugurated. With many of the works completed and the others progressing on schedule, the organizers’ focus is on safety.
During a visit to the National Institute of Sport and Performance (INSEP), Emmanuel Macron, president of France, acknowledged that “our first challenge is security, with the terrorist threat that is always there. I want to thank law enforcement for their commitment.”
Macron’s message to security forces came after a protest calling for an “Olympic bonus” and other compensation for work during the Games. The President of France acknowledged that they will be asked to “sacrifice their holidays” and said that for this reason they will receive “recognition”.
While all eyes are on July 26 and the opening ceremony, in which half a million people are expected, the first major focus of attention will be on the relay of the torch and the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, spoke about the extreme security measures that will be adopted.
The relay will begin on May 8 in Marseille and about five thousand police officers will travel to ensure safety when the torch arrives, which will travel through more than 400 locations until it reaches Paris. The Olympic flame will be guarded by “a bubble” of 100 troops and the cost of security will be one million euros, as confirmed by Darmanin.
The Interior Minister also explained that they rejected 13 of the 12,000 people who had registered to be part of the relay: a dozen were for “extensive criminal records, mainly for drug-related crimes”, while the intelligence services removed the other three for “radical Islam, foreign interference or links to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict”.
To cover all the venues of the Games (more than 10 million people are expected to be present), France will allocate 30,000 troops and about 15,000 soldiers, while there will be about 20,000 private security agents (a percentage is still needed to be hired). “I don’t believe in a last-minute disaster, something incredible, unexpected. We’ve taken everything into account, we’ve analyzed 3,000 potential risks and potential pitfalls, we’ve imagined everything that could happen. And now we are ready, we have the desire and an exceptional project,” said Tony Estanguet, president of the Organizing Committee, who a few days ago confirmed that the opening ceremony will take place on the Seine River as planned and they are not thinking about other plans.
Transportation, another challenge six months before the start of the Olympic Games
During the visit to the National Institute of Sport and Performance (INSEP), Macron also acknowledged that “the second challenge is that of public transport. It’s a huge challenge. We will succeed.”
Macron was optimistic that he would be able to transfer between 600 and 800,000 people to the different locations more than usual, he said that in order to meet the objective, the frequency will increase by 15% and also that people who can work from home will be encouraged not to use the public service. From July 20 to September 8, the ticket will increase from 2.10 to 4 euros.
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