The project of an opening ceremony outside the stadium (based on the model of the Buenos Aires Youth Games in 2018) imagined by the International Olympic Committee, supported and defended by the organizing committee of the Pais 2024 Games was quickly presented as ambitious but must constantly be appreciated and evaluated in the light of the international context. The organizers are forced to adapt to the recommendations imposed by the authorities. In the name of security. State of play.
Imagined in front of two million spectators by Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, the gauge of those who will be able, on July 26 from 8:24 p.m., to attend the river parade of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games along the Seine and the burning of the Olympic cauldron, was set this Tuesday by Gérald Darmanin for 326,000 people (including 222,000 with free tickets). If there is “no specific terrorist threat relating to the games to date, there is a threat to France in general”, according to the Minister of the Interior. A figure that he had already mentioned at the end of January. The Minister of the Interior also estimated before the Senate Law Committee that the number of spectators who will follow the ceremony from buildings overlooking the Seine is around “200,000”. And 50,000 people spread across the Parisian fan zones. Enough to considerably increase the assistance.
The nautical ballet between Austerlitz and the Trocadéro should allow the State, public authorities and the organizing committee (via its partners) to distribute invitations. Mathieu Hanotin, mayor of Saint-Denis, on France Inter, expressed this Wednesday his desire to obtain a quota of reserved places: “It is a request shared by all the mayors concerned of Seine-Saint-Denis so that this magnificent celebration which we want to be as popular as possible and which can really benefit everyone and which does not follow a logic of first come, first served but which can guarantee that the target audiences which we chooses to touch can be awarded a free ticket to attend this ceremony.
No. The gauge could, in view of the international context and security, be further reduced in the weeks and months to come. And ambition will align with the security imperative. The opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games could, according to the latest figures, be followed by 326,000 spectators. Which is equivalent to three Stade de France. Unheard of in the history of major international sporting events (Olympic Games, Football World Cups, Rugby World Cups, etc.).
The international situation is closely observed by all stakeholders (from Laurent Nunez, the Paris police prefect, to Gérald Darmanin via Emmanuel Macron, from Michel Cadot interministerial delegate to the Olympic and Paralympic Games to Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, without forgetting the organizers of Paris 2024 and the IOC), safety is and will remain, for everyone, the watchword. It is the obsession and the essential parameter of the party, the corollary of essential adjustments. Until July 26. Even if the measures were to move away from the initial dream and further reduce the figures. Reality demands it. It’s the price of the party. To hide one’s face would be to show negligence and unconsciousness.
SEE ALSO – Rafael Leão’s magnificent goal with AC Milan against Atalanta on February 25 (1-1)