wattJulie, a 24-year-old refugee support worker, was bewildered when government posters appeared in metro stations recently advising Parisians to work from home during the Summer Olympics to avoid overcrowding on public transport.
“It feels a bit like another COVID-19 lockdown,” she said. “It’s like saying: ‘Parisians, stay home and stay out of the way, while all this money is being spent on the Olympics.'” Personally, I would stay away. I’m not comfortable with the idea of clearing out the homeless downtown to make way for the Olympics. “
As Paris prepares for the Olympics and Paralympics, politicians, sports stars and President Emmanuel Macron are trying to drum up public support for what is being called a “revolutionary” and completely different kind of Games – one with a carbon footprint of just about the usual. of half and are rarely built to avoid wasted infrastructure investment.
Many Parisians are enthusiastic – about 8 million tickets have been sold so far, with French people buying more than 3 million, including 1.7 million in the Paris region – but others in the French capital want to escape the city Cities to avoid chaos, or rent your own house. Apartment prices are high. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo recently urged residents: “Don’t leave this summer. Don’t leave, otherwise you would be stupid. It would be unbelievable.” Yannick, French tennis star and captain of the French men’s tennis team at the Paralympic Games Yannick Noah said: “The moaning has to stop…the whole world is going to be here…it’s going to be beautiful, and I think a lot of people don’t think so.” Realize that. “
Macron called the Olympics “the pride of the country” and 300,000 people applied for 45,000 Olympic volunteer jobs. Paris is positioning itself as an Olympic Games “for the people”, with amateur athletes from the public able to run the Olympic marathon route at night for the first time. Two major construction projects, the Olympic Village and the Olympic Aquatics Center, have been completed and are aimed at boosting the development of low-income areas in the Seine-Saint-Denis department north of the capital.
But with the final months to go, challenges remain. The grand opening on the Seine remains a mammoth undertaking, with 10,000 athletes on about 100 boats floating along 4 miles (6 kilometers) of water and watched by hundreds of thousands of spectators. This is the first time that the Olympic opening ceremony is held outside the main stadium. Airspace will be closed and more than 45,000 police will be on scene. Interior Minister Gerrald Darmanin told the Senate this week that security at the Olympics was the “biggest logistical and security challenge” facing his department. One million anti-terrorism inspection investigations will be carried out in the early stage.
Whether the Seine is clean enough for swimming in triathlons and open water competitions is another key question. The Seine has been closed to swimming for the past century due to serious pollution. But a frantic cleanup operation has begun on water management and filtration stations in the hope of opening the river for the Olympics and beyond. Macron promised to swim in it himself. Crucial bacteria testing will take place in June, with the main aim of stopping too much waste being washed into rivers when it rains. Ana Marcela Cunha, Brazil’s Olympic open water swimming champion, told AFP this week that if the water is not clean enough, there must be a plan B – to hold swimming events elsewhere. She said: “This is not to erase the history of the Seine. We know what the Pont Alexandre III and the Eiffel Tower represent, but the health of the athletes must come first.”
In the tense political climate ahead of the European elections, led by Marine Le Pen’s far-right national rallies, right-wing TV pundits continue to debate the Olympics. There was controversy over whether things were French and nationalist enough, including speculation that Aya Nakamura, one of the world’s most talked-about French-language singers, might sing Edith Piaf at the opening ceremony, and that the cross on top of the Les Invalides building in Paris This does not appear on Olympic posters. At the same time, public transportation, which was initially free when Paris bid for the Olympics, will have its fares doubled during the Olympics.
Hotel prices are skyrocketing. Research by Le Parisien found that a hotel in the 15th arrondissement cost €90 (£77) last summer, while during the Olympics the price will reach €1,363. Prices for advertised hotel rooms initially soared, averaging around three times higher than normal prices, but have now begun to decline slightly and stabilize.
The Paris Olympics have also been subject to the most stringent financial scrutiny of any Olympics, with organizers pledging to adopt a transparent and ethical approach to avoid common problems such as huge overspending and corruption. French financial prosecutors are investigating the contract for possible conflicts of interest and favoritism. The organizing committee for the Paris 2024 Winter Olympics has come under scrutiny from state auditors and France’s anti-corruption agency and said it is cooperating fully. A separate investigation is examining the pay structure of Toni Estengate, a three-time Olympic canoe champion and a key organizer of the Paris Games. Estenguet, who is paid less than Sebastian Coe when he was chief organizer of the London 2012 Olympics, said “he does not determine his own salary or its structure.”
The government will hold emergency talks with unions next week over pay, working conditions and overtime as it tries to avert possible strikes by public sector and transport workers during the Olympics. Police unions have received special bonuses for this period. When the government issued a 2-euro Special Olympics commemorative coin and booklet to every primary school child in France last month, some teachers’ unions complained that the 16 million euros cost should have been spent on schools.
Estanget said: “It is inevitable that such a major event will raise questions and concerns, and Paris, like previous host cities, is also asking at this stage how the event will be played… But in fact, all indicators are not bad. “It’s very reassuring. The Olympic Village was completed ahead of schedule. In the six months before the Olympics we had sold over 8 million tickets… 400,000 people wanted to run the marathon, and when we only had 10,000 places, over 100,000 people applied to carry the torch. We really felt a sense of enthusiasm…everything went according to plan and that’s what matters. “
olympic numbers
-
During the Olympic and Paralympic Games, more than 16 million people are expected to travel to the Paris Region.
-
The opening ceremony is expected to be attended by 300,000 people.
-
15,000 athletes will take part in the competition.
-
5,084 medals will be awarded.
-
During the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Olympic Village will provide 13 million meals to athletes.
-
After the Games, more than 8,000 trees will be planted in the Olympic Village and transformed into a new residential, commercial and work area for the Seine-Saint-Denis department.
-
There will be 4 billion television viewers worldwide.
(Source: Discover France, Reuters, Paris 2024, Ile-de-France region.)
