D-100 Olympic Games Paris 2024: one hundred days to convince the whole of France

The opening ceremony on the Seine on July 26 will be the first great moment of these Olympic Games. He is also the most feared by law enforcement. Paris 2024

Very popular on the evening of the designation of Paris, the Olympic Games would no longer be a dream. The controversies are multiplying. Overview.

The day after the designation of Paris, on September 13, 2017 in Lima, Sebastian Coe, the boss of the London 2012 Olympic Games, warned Tony Estanguet, then future head of the Olympic Committee ;organization (Cojo) : "After euphoria will come the time for questions and distrust."

Estanguet often recalls this discussion in recent months. Just 100 days before the opening ceremony, on July 26 (from 7:30 p.m.), one controversy chases the other almost daily, forcing the organizers to adapt. rsquo;explain.

The price of tickets or hotel rooms, the security of the sites, the pollution of the Seine, the outlines of the poster, the role of Aya Nakamura approached to sing the Hymn to the love of Édith Piaf, Clarisse Agbégnénou's baby, Tony Estanguet's salary, an undersized transport network… hellip; nothing escapes the commentators on the froth of things.

At Cojo, the team turns its back, salutes the work accomplished, a controlled budget despite inflation and the war in Ukraine, operational equipment and the French mainly behind their Games .

Some promise hell on earth in a hundred days and a delay in ignition. Others predict a great moment of sharing and the party of the century. 100 years after the last Olympic Games organized in the capital.
You be the judge.

Infrastructures

The athletes' village, the media village, twelve stadiums and gymnasiums, eight swimming pools, five bridges, four school groups… In total, seventy structures will have been built or rehabilitated by Solideo (Olympic works delivery company) to organize the Olympics and Paralympic Games in the best conditions. Today, almost everything is ready.

The Cojo has recovered the keys to the athletes' village, the aquatic center is open to divers, the Stade de France is getting a makeover… Only the renovation of the Grand Palais, scene of the fencing and taekwondo events, is still a little worrying. "We are in an extremely tight schedule, with a visit from the security teams on April 12 and a transfer to Cojo on April 19. There may be two or three works while Paris 2024 will be in place", explained Nicolas Ferrand, general director of Solideo, at the end of December 2023 .

Regarding costs, since 2017 the public establishment has had to face "Covid, the war in Ukraine or the total closure of China& ;quot;. "We're still in trouble. In constant euros, our budget (4.4 billion euros including 1.711 of public money) n’has only evolved by 1.7’ nbsp;%", argued Nicolas Ferrand in the columns of Midi Libre, a year ago.
His speech has not changed since.

Solideo also claims four times fewer workplace accidents than on comparable sites. Of the 164 incidents recorded, including 25 serious, one person lost their life. One person too many.

Transport

Fifteen million spectators are expected this summer to attend the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Parisians feared the invasion to the point of considering leaving the capital in force.

Public transport, already saturated in normal times, is worrying. "They will not be ready", estimated the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, at the end of November.
Four months later, the subject is still debated. On March 25, Valérie Pécresse presented her plan. Last mile shuttles or for disabled people, strengthening of the most popular lines (metro 9, RER A and RER C) with the recruitment of 300 drivers, application (in six languages) to find the best route… The president of the Île-de-France region wants to believe it.

To serve sites far from stations (Roland-Garros, Parc des Princes, Versailles, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Vaires-sur-Marne), Valérie Pécresse also promises 300 buses, or "one bus per minute" and per site. Returning to the controversial Olympic pricing, the elected official also affirmed that the price of a single ticket had been set at 4 euros so that no one ;rsquo;buy" and thus avoid "embolisms at the counters" . Weird.

Paris residents without a subscription just have to subscribe to Liberté +, the online post-payment service. quot;, to pay"at the best rate, 1.73 euros, the following month", she advised in an interview with the’ AFP.

Initially, ticket holders were to benefit from free transport. A promise in the application file not kept for budgetary reasons.

Security

The numbers are staggering. In order to secure the Games in the face of threats from all sides, nearly 45,000 police and gendarmes will be mobilized in Île-de-France for the unprecedented opening ceremony on the Seine on July 26. 326,000 spectators and some 160 heads of state are expected for the occasion.

According to the latest data, 18,000 French soldiers, as well as reinforcements from abroad, will also intervene daily, in addition to some 35,000 police and gendarmes.

"France, because it carries universal values, because it is for secularism […] is particularly threatened , particularly during these extraordinary events that will be the Olympic Games", underlined the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, three days after the attack in Moscow claimed by the’ rsquo;Islamic State.

"The French police, the gendarmes, the prefects, the intelligence, will be ready", he has since promised. Monday, on BFM TV, President Macron spoke about "plans B and C" concerning the opening ceremony which could be "limited to Trocadéro", or even "repatriated to the Stade de France", in the event of terrorist threats.

From 18,000 to 22,000 private security agents will also be integrated into the various competition sites. Not all of them have yet been trained. 97% of Cojo's needs would however be secure, according to Tony Estanguet.

The social movement

At a time when it is tightening all the screws to reduce the deficits, the government must also let go of ballast in order to avoid chaos in the first days of the Olympic Games.
A windfall effect or just demand for employees who will be mobilized for part of the summer, the unions are threatening them in all directions. Without substantial support measures, they promise a general strike across the world, particularly in transport. At the highest summit of the State, the message was heard. Negotiations are increasing.
Bonuses, places in crèche, increased teleworking, spared leave: the administration plans to support without counting the public service agents who will be on duty during the Olympics.

4.4 billion for the organizing committee

We sometimes get a little lost when we talk about the budget for the Olympic Games. If we stick to the organizing committee alone, it amounts to 4.4 billion financed 96% by private money.

If we add that of Solideo (Olympic works delivery company), we approach 9 billion including 1.8 billion of public money. Pierre Moscovici is counting on another figure.

According to the president of the Court of Auditors, the bill could ultimately amount to between "3 and 5 billion of public money&quot ;. An audit will be carried out the day after the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Regarding bonuses, they may be higher than 1 500 euros in certain cases (police officers and gendarmes). Enough to calm union desires ? That’s the idea.
Tony Estanguet dreams of a "social truce" to welcome & quot;the world in the most beautiful conditions and not to spoil the party." Emmanuel Macron appeals "to the& rsquo;spirit of responsibility" of the unions.

The ticket office

The organizers are rubbing their hands. Four months before the opening of the Games, nearly 8 million tickets (out of 10) have found takers. The first big controversy of these Olympics, the price of these tickets has clearly not dampened global demand.

"Nearly half of these tickets were available for less than 50 euros and one million for less than 24 euros", repeats Cojo over and over again, without convincing the general public. Particularly in France. The last sesames will be on sale regularly between now and summer. 250,000 will be this Wednesday, April 17. In mid-May, an official resale platform will be opened.

As for the Paralympic Games, it’s a little more complicated. Only 900,000 tickets (out of 2.8 million) have been sold to date.

The athletes

At the Ministry of Sports, we always aim for the Top 5 in the medal table on the evening of the closing ceremony. That is more than 70 podiums if we refer to the last Olympic Games in Tokyo (71 for the 5th, the Russian Olympic Committee).

According to the American data agency Gracenote, France could achieve its objectives with 26 titles. The record (in the modern era) dates from 1996 in Atlanta with 15 gold charms. Claude Onesta, the head of the National Sports Agency, has identified 90 medal winners.

Several headliners are already in great shape. Léon Marchand in particular, dazzling at the end of March during the American University Swimming Championships.
Others, like Kevin Mayer (read elsewhere), double world decathlon champion, are still chasing qualification.

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