The president of the Organizing Committee of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (OCOG), Tony Estanguet, this Wednesday, removed doubts about whether there is an alternative to the Seine River for the opening ceremony in case of security threats by stressing that no other scenario is being worked out.
“We are working on a ceremony on the Seine, not anywhere else“Estanguet emphasized in an interview with France Inter radio station, where he pointed out that there could be “a series of adaptation measures” if security risks materialize, but in terms of cybersecurity or there are bad weather conditions.
That’s his answer when asked about “a plan B” or “a plan C”after French president Emmanuel Macron raised doubts at the end of December by pointing out that there were alternative scenarios for the inauguration ceremony along a section of the Seine River in central Paris, but did not specify which.
OCOG president insists “security is the basis for the success of the Games”but also for the first time in Paris, that opening ceremony, scheduled for July 26, “will be held outside a stadium.”
Organizers are preparing a security bubble to control the 400,000 attendees expected to witness the ceremony. on the river bank, but that poses some challenges considering the nature of the site.
Estanguet repeated the message that the completion of the infrastructure created for the Games is being done within the calendar and “there is no concern” on that issue: “We will be ready.”
He confirmed that one of the challenges is increasing the cadence of public transportwhere subway and bus drivers still need to be hired, and another “big challenge” is finding the 17,000 private security guards that will be needed.
Regarding that last point, he pointed out that “70% of private security is guaranteed at the moment” and also that this is not a specific problem for the Olympic Games, but the sector is “in tension” due to the lack of labor.
In total, 180,000 people will be employed in the organization of the Paris Olympics.
Estanguet said that the Olympic flame relay in France is collective and will be carried out by 31 sports federations.
These relays will last three months from the arrival of the fire in the port of Marseille, from Athens, aboard the Belem, a boat built in Nantes in 1896, which in the first years of its service sailed between Brazil and France with shipments of cocoa. .
Source: La Verdad
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