PARIS-. Seeking to boost their egos as experts in good taste, the French will open the Paris Olympic Games this Friday with a lavish and unprecedented ceremony in which more than 6,000 athletes will parade on the waters of the River Seine, in a tour of the most emblematic places in this city.
The organizing committee is keeping the details of the event, the first outside a stadium and which promises to be the best in Olympic history, under strict confidentiality. Nothing seems to be left to chance, except for two asterisks: security and the weather.
A series of vandalism attacks on France’s high-speed rail network that disrupted the movement of a quarter of a million passengers in the early hours of Friday has put French authorities on high alert as they seek to determine whether they have any connection to the Games.
Official reports indicated that several fires had broken out and incendiary devices had been found near the tracks of the Atlantic, North and East high-speed lines, which connect Paris with the rest of France and neighbouring countries.
Paris, which has suffered several bloody attacks this century, faces a major security challenge due to international tensions over Russia’s war in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. There are also concerns about possible protests amid a politically charged climate following parliamentary elections in early July.
Some 45,000 police officers and 10,000 soldiers have been deployed to ensure the safety of the massive crowd – some 300,000 spectators are expected, in addition to invited foreign leaders – on the banks of the Seine and in surrounding areas.
Fighter planes, surveillance drones and sniper helicopters were the only ones allowed to fly over the French capital during the day.
As for the weather, Paris dawned cloudy and a light rain fell before midday. The local weather service warned that there could be more rain during the opening of the Games. The festivities will not be cancelled if they do.
The diversity of France and its national motto “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” will be the central theme of the opening party designed by the award-winning French theatre director, Thomas Jolly, with 3,500 artists on stage.
Contrary to previous inaugurations, some 6,000 athletes will parade aboard nearly 100 boats along a six-kilometre route on the River Seine, with the ceremony scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. local time and not at the end as has been tradition.
The starting point will be the Austerlitz bridge, next to the Jardin des Plantes, and it continues along the Seine from east to west of the city, passing several Olympic venues such as the Parc Urbane de la Concorde (3X3 basketball, breaking, freestyle BMX, skateboarding), Les Invalides (archery, marathon finish line, road cycling and start of the time trial) and the Grand Palais in Paris (fencing and taekwondo).
In another distinction from previous Games, Paris did not build an Olympic park in a remote area, but rather every symbol of the city was made available for the sporting event.
The parade continues towards the Pont de Jena, which links the Eiffel Tower (beach volleyball) on the left bank of the Seine with the Trocadero district on the right. The final part of the parade will be on the Place du Trocadero, where the Parc des Champions, another new creation for Paris 2024, will be set up. From Monday, the medal winners will parade there the day after their consecration.
Who will light the cauldron? There is speculation that the legendary footballer Zinedine Zidane, world champion in 1998, and other French sporting heroes will be honoured. There is also speculation that the survivors of the Islamic State attacks that left 130 dead on 13 November 2015 could receive the honour.
Host President Emmanuel Macron will be joined at the ceremony by a number of foreign leaders, including Israel’s Isaac Herz, Italy’s Sergio Mattarella and Germany’s Prime Minister Olaf Scholz. US First Lady Jill Biden will represent her husband Joe Biden.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his counterpart in the Ukraine conflict, Volodymyr Zelensky, did not travel to Paris, nor did Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
From Latin America, the presidents of Argentina, Javier Milei, and Colombia, Gustavo Preto, confirmed their attendance.
