By Julien Pretot
PARIS (Reuters) – Paris 2024 organisers are expecting at least 600,000 to attend the Summer Olympics opening ceremony along the Seine as athletes and delegations will sail along the river to kick off the Games.
Some 160 boats will set off on July 26 from the Pont d’Austerlitz for a six-kilometre journey to the Pont d’Iena in an event Tony Estanguet, the head of the organising committee, describes as “unique and spectacular”.
“We’ve been working on it for the past 12 months, it’s the result of a collective effort with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and all authorities. It has to be spectacular,” Estanguet told Reuters in an interview.
“It will be the first time people have free access to the opening ceremony, and not just in a stadium. It will also be a popular event.”
While the lower part of the banks will be submitted to ticketing, the upper parts will be free access.
“The Games is a unique, once-in-a lifetime experience. We want people to feel it. (The boats) will pass along the iconic landmarks of Paris – Notre Dame, the Orsay and Louvre museums, the Pont Neuf (Paris’s oldest bridge), the Pont Alexandre III, the Grand Palais, the Eiffel Tower,” Estanguet added.
Estanguet, a three-time canoeing Olympic champion who took part in four Summer Games, explained that the athletes would lead the river parade.
“I participated in the ceremony between Sydney (2000) and London (2012). Athletes get into the stadium in the second part, after the show,” he explained.
“We wanted that this ceremony starts with the athletes parade. It’s a fantastic way to connect the people to the athletes. It’s also better for them to sit on a boat than stand in a stadium for hours.”
The project was approved by the IOC last month, with president Thomas Bach saying all security requirements would be met.
“Today, I am happy that the French authorities on all levels have carefully considered this opportunity and come to the conclusion this will happen, under the premise of all necessary security precautions,” Bach said.
Paris has been on high alert since a series of jihadist attacks in which 130 were killed and hundreds injured on Nov. 13, 2015.
“Security has been our top priority since the very beginning,” said Estanguet.
“Public authorities have been working on it and over 50 meetings have been organised to set all the possibilities, how we can share responsibilities with the national and local forces, and the private sector in terms of security.”
While there is no alternative option for the opening ceremony in case of a major incident, Estanguet said organisers would be flexible.
“We saw in Tokyo that they had to adapt to the pandemic’s conditions. It’s never the original plan that’s finally delivered,” he said.
“We are ready to adapt if necessary.”
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
