Waiting for the 2024 Paris Olympics

AHN CHAK-HEE
The author is the head of the global cooperation team at the JoongAng Ilbo.

The Paris 2024 Olympics will begin in at 20:24 on July 26. Anticipation is high for the opening ceremony, which will be held in the city center rather than in a stadium for the first time in the Olympic history. The venue is the Seine River, the symbol and heart of Paris.

The city has an ambitious plan to include all of France’s iconic structures — such as the Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Louvre Museum and the Eiffel Tower — on both banks of the river in the grand celebration. A total of 160 cruise ships carrying athletes and officials from all over the world will sail 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from the Austerlitz Bridge to the Eiffel Tower in the northeast in a spectacular procession.

The plan, however, has raised considerable concerns.

In keeping with its slogan, “Games Wide Open,” the Olympiad’s opening ceremony is expected to attract 600,000 visitors to the riverside. But the original plan to open most sections free of charge to residents and tourists has been due to the risk of terrorism. Organizers now plan to mobilize 40,000 police officers, highlighting the risks of holding an international event in such an exposed space.

President Emmanuel Macron mentioned the French government’s deep concern, saying that in the worst-case scenario, it may abandon the Seine River opening ceremony — an idea that has been carefully conceived since the hosting was confirmed in 2017 — and adopt a Plan B or Plan C.

But there are more issues. Long-distance swimming events, including the triathlon, are to be held in the Seine River. Paris has been campaigning to improve the Seine’s water quality for the 100 years since swimming there was banned in 1923. France has invested nearly 2 trillion won over seven years into the effort, hoping that Parisians will be able to safely swim in the river after the Olympics.

A large-scale underground rainwater storage facility was built, and wastewater treatment and pollution prevention plans were drawn up and carried out. With some ups and downs, last year’s test showed that fortunately, bacteria and E. coli contamination levels have significantly improved.

In the process of biding and preparing for the upcoming Olympics, the city of Paris focused on sustainability by improving and utilizing existing facilities rather than building new stadiums. The fencing competition will be held at the Grand Palais — the pride of Paris for its architectural beauty — and the newly adopted breakdance event will take place at the Place de la Concorde, the center of the French Revolution. The equestrian event will be held at Versailles. That’s an excellent and elegant choice.

With less than 200 days away, I hope the Paris Olympics will present a new paradigm for the global sporting festivity.