Chapeau, Paris: the records of the Olympic Games.

Ceremonies: 8

Paris wanted to transform the inauguration into a risky bet, taking it out of its natural habitat, the stadium, to spread it throughout the city center with the Seine River as the common thread. This meant a significant change in the life of the citizen, with reductions in traffic and public transport, as well as a great security challenge as it made it very difficult to build a perimeter. The aim of this idea is to show the world a fantastic postcard of Paris and in this sense it is very effective, with the Eiffel Tower as the main star of the final fireworks thanks to a fantastic game of technology -illumination However, the script of the grand ceremony came out disjointed and irregular, not to mention the controversy generated by the sexually diverse interpretation of The Last Supper. Leonardo da Vinci. However, Paris shows that there can be different ways to plan a ceremony. The cloister regains its natural location in the Stade de France.

PLACES: 10

The headquarters in Paris could hardly be bettered. On the one hand, large, functional and modern facilities such as the Stade de France, the Omnisports de Bercy, the La Dèfense Arena swimming pool, Roland Garros or the Vaires-sur-Marne aquatic complex. On the other hand, the ‘outdoor’ headquarters are installed in unparalleled city settings such as the Trocadero, Versailles, the foot of the Eiffel Tower itself or La Concorde. And some emblematic areas of the city such as the Grand Palais, headquarters of taekwondo, were renovated and converted for the occasion. Not only are they attractive images for broadcast television, they are also impressive live. If there is a ‘but’ it is the distance of some places from Paris, such as shooting, sailing for obvious reasons (in Marseille, Paris has no sea) and the spread of some team sports such as football , basketball and handball (Lille, Lyon, Nantes…).

AUDIENCE: 10

A similar atmosphere has not been seen at an Olympic Games since London ’12, with a unique connection between the stands and the playing fields. All the venues are packed to the rafters from early to late and the audience, always colourful, participatory and enthusiastic, is part of the success of Paris. The numbers sing: Paris sold 9.7 million tickets of the 10 million it put into circulation, a record in Olympic history, more than Atlanta’s 8.6 million. Also contributing to this was the fact that many places had a very large capacity, which despite everything never showed empty seats, even on the qualification days. ‘Street’ events such as marches, marathons or open water also attract large crowds.

SECURITY: 10

Some 45,000 French security forces, including gendarmes, private agents and the army, have taken over almost every corner of the Olympic sites, a deterrent force responding to Paris’s obsession to protect the city, which has been torn apart by terrorist action for many years. precedents, in the event of any possible incident. More than attacks on high-speed rail lines in the early days of the Olympic Games. There were no notable setbacks and the very visible presence of police officers armed to the teeth also gave the public the feeling that everything was under control. Security has been especially strengthened in sensitive areas such as around the Stade de France in Saint Denis, where there have already been incidents during the Champions League soccer final.

TRANSPORTATION: 7

Paris did not worry too much about guaranteeing special transportation during the Games, relying almost entirely on the strength of the city’s powerful communication network, which includes many metro and train lines, buses and trams , as well as taxis. The only concession was the establishment of an Olympic lane on the city’s busy streets for the duration of the Olympic Games, further congesting the already complicated traffic. An agreement was also not reached to extend the schedule of the public transport network beyond normal, which sometimes did not meet the needs of the public when the competitions ended at a late hour.

ORGANIZATION: 8

Few drawbacks, in general, at the organizational level of Paris, more than the logical inconveniences generated by an event of the magnitude of the Olympic Games. to the inhabitants of a city which, on the other hand, is more accustomed to mass tourism. The only serious problem is the organizing committee’s commitment to the Seine River as the venue for the swimming leg of the triathlon and the open waters. The city spent hundreds of millions of euros to clean the water of a river where all the city’s waste is traditionally dumped, but analytics belied its efforts, forcing the cancellation of several training sessions for in both sports and even delayed a few days of some tests. Miraculously, on the day of the competition the water was suitable for bathing but that did not dampen the distrust of Parisians about the cleanliness of the river.

OVERALL RATING: 9

Paris held a magnificent Olympic Games, setting a very high standard for Los Angeles’28, a city that has neither the charm of the French capital, nor its emblematic places, nor its organizational capacity: Atlanta’96 , the last Summer Games In the United States, it was a general disaster. Hats off to Paris 2024.