First full-scale test. With excitement rising just over a year from the 2024 Olympics (July 26-August 11). Around forty boats paraded on Monday morning on the Seine between the Pont d’Austerlitz and the Pont d’Iena to test “manoeuvres”, “distances”, “duration” and “video capture” of the future opening ceremony Paris Olympics in 2024.
For the needs of this parade, which started at 6:30 am Monday morning from the Austerlitz bridge, navigation on the river is stopped from 4:00 am until 12:00 pm. The first boats – all numbered – have on board passengers with signs as if to mimic the delegations, AFP noted.
For this mini-rehearsal, the total fleet is made up of 57 boats, 39 representing those of the delegations – a little less than half than for D-Day in 2024 – and 18 others the management (assistance, first aid) as well than Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), the TV broadcaster of the Olympics.
Zodiacs from the police headquarters or firefighters from Paris sped Monday morning on either side of the main convoy which sailed in single file over the six kilometers of the route, under the eye of the police positioned on the bridges.
Two passages are planned at a speed of 9 km according to the organizers who qualify this test as “technical”. “We must also test a new way of filming the ceremony”, explained upstream Thierry Reboul, events and ceremony director, at the origin of the concept.
On the other hand, there is no question of seeing anything artistic and of the show designed by the theater director, Thomas Jolly, because the secret will be kept until D-Day of this unprecedented event.
This is the first time that an Olympic opening ceremony will be held outdoors. About 100,000 people will be able to attend by paying for their places on the lower banks of the Seine and several hundred thousand others on the upper banks for free.
Securing this gigantic outdoor party, on a river, in the presence of athletes and heads of state from around the world is a real headache.
The high quays will be divided into 15 or 20 sections, police and political sources had told AFP for several weeks. The overall figure has varied in recent months and has yet to be made official.
