France aims to wow the world on Friday with an extravagant Olympics opening ceremony through the heart of Paris, officially kicking off a Games fraught with security risks at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions.
Some 45,000 police, 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 private security staff will ensure the safety of the parade along the river Seine, its banks and surrounding monuments, in an unprecedented display of security.
A procession of barges will take nearly 7,000 athletes along the river past Paris’s most famous landmarks, while more than 300,000 spectators will watch from the banks.
Since the last Olympics in Beijing in 2022, wars have erupted in Ukraine and Gaza, providing a tense backdrop to the Games. France is at its highest level of security – though officials have repeatedly said there is no specific threat to the opening ceremony or the Games.
As part of a vast security operation, authorities have turned to powers passed under an anti-terror law, placing 155 people under surveillance measures that strictly limit their movement, according to official data and a Reuters review of cases.
Meanwhile, Israeli competitors are being escorted by elite tactical units to and from events and given 24-hour protection throughout the Olympics, officials say.
Scores of world leaders will be in Paris for the opening ceremony, which will be protected by snipers on rooftops. The Seine’s riverbed has been swept for bombs, and Paris’ airspace will be closed.
For the Games more generally, radar-surveillance planes and Reaper drones will watch sensitive sites from above, and Mirage 2000 fighter jets will be on standby to intercept aircraft straying into restricted airspace.
EVERYTHING READY
“Everything is ready,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a video he posted on X. “Even the (Olympics) rings are there,” he said, overlooking the Eiffel tower. “Enjoy the Games!”
Macron, who won a second mandate two years ago, had hoped the Olympics would cement his legacy.
But his failed bet on a snap legislative election has weakened him and is casting a shadow over his moment on the international stage.
High security also means much grumbling from locals, after police imposed a security zone along the river ahead of the opening ceremony, erecting metal barriers to fence off neighbourhoods and requiring authorisation – passes with QR codes – to enter.
Cafes along the banks of the Seine, which normally buzz with activity in the summer, have been left very quiet due to the restrictions.
That has not helped lift the national mood over the Olympics, which Macron will hope improves once the Games have properly started.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means Moscow’s usually huge delegation of athletes has been reduced to 15 who met and accepted eligibility requirements to compete as neutrals, according to a list published by the IOC on July 20.
Belarus will send 17 athletes competing as neutrals.
Ukraine is sending 140 athletes – its smallest contingent since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
FLOATING PARADE
Starting at 7:30 p.m. (1530 GMT), in broad daylight, the ceremony, which marks the official start of the Paris 2024 Games, will pass by many of the French capital’s beloved landmarks, including the Louvre museum and Pont des Arts bridge.
“We’re going to take advantage of all the historic monuments around the Seine, and there won’t be a single riverbank or bridge that won’t be filled with music, dance, or performance,” the ceremony’s choreographer Maud Le Pladec has said.
It will the first time that an opening ceremony has taken place outside of a stadium.
Details including some of the artists taking part, who will be the last to carry the torch and light the Olympic cauldron to mark the start of the Games, have been kept secret.
The artistic team said they had been rehearsing in private to keep it all under wraps.
One big unknown for the open-air ceremony is the weather. It is currently forecast to be cloudy, while organisers were hoping there would be a “golden hour” of sunset lighting up buildings midway through the ceremony.
More than 10,500 athletes will compete at the Olympics, 100 years since Paris last staged the Games. Competition started on Wednesday and the first of the 329 gold medals will be awarded on Saturday. The closing ceremony will take place on Aug. 11.
(Reuters)
