France ‘ready’ to host Paris Games, says Macron

Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that France is “ready” to host the 2024 Paris Olympics, four days before the start of the major global sporting event.

“We are ready and we will be ready throughout the Games,” Macron said during a visit to the Olympic Village in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.

France begins a crucial week with final preparations for the opening ceremony on the banks of the Seine, with two rehearsals of the riverside parade on Monday and Wednesday, before the big day on Friday.

The sunshine and the weather forecasts of the last few days gave the organisation a respite after the endless rain in June. At that time, the quality of the water in the Seine and its flow did not allow swimming, which set off alarm bells.

The ceremony will take place in “calm” weather, with temperatures between 22 and 25 degrees, although with clouds, according to the Météo channel, which ruled out the risk of storms, although not of rain.

For months, logistical and security issues had cast a shadow over the event on the Seine. “We decided to hold the ceremony… This is already a tremendous victory,” Macron told international reporters at the Elysee Palace, the seat of the presidency.

“At first it seemed crazy,” but it will be “unique” with “world-class artists, dancers and an orchestra” that “will turn Paris into a great open-air theatre,” he added, without giving further details.

The president also supervised, with his Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, the “most confidential” security elements of this ceremony, in which LeBron James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, will be the male flag bearer of the United States.

Israel is “welcome”

After two months focused on the political situation, from the European elections to the legislative elections that shook France, the centre-right president is back in his Olympic uniform, although controversies continue to loom over the country.

French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné said that “the Israeli delegation is welcome in France,” in response to controversial remarks by a member of parliament who called for “mobilizations” over the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

On Saturday, during a rally in support of the Palestinian people, leftist MP Thomas Portes said that “Israeli athletes are not welcome at the Paris Olympics.”

But after the wave of indignation, the MP clarified his statements and spoke of a “double standard” with regard to Russia, whose athletes will participate under a neutral flag due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022.

The Interior Minister accused him of “putting a target on the backs of Israeli athletes” with a “stink of anti-Semitism.”

“These are already the ones most in danger at the Games,” said the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif), Yonathan Arfi, who recalled the 11 “killed by Palestinian terrorists” in Munich in 1972.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog will be in Paris for the opening of the Games, his office announced Sunday.

The Interior Ministry told AFP it would make “adjustments” to security arrangements for some delegations, including those from Israel, the United States and Iran.

In April, a security source explained that some, such as those of Israeli and American athletes, would have their “own” means.

“It’s no secret that these Games are a little more difficult for us,” said Yael Arad, president of the Israeli Olympic Committee (IOC), before leaving Israel for France on Monday.

“Legacy”

Thousands of athletes and officials have already arrived at the Olympic Village, which was visited on Monday by the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, and where up to 14,500 are expected at the height of the Games.

The complex, which consists of 40 low-rise housing blocks, has been built using innovative construction techniques that use low-carbon concrete, water recycling and reused materials.

The aim was also to avoid the use of air conditioning, using a natural cooling system, but some Olympic delegations have requested some 2,500 portable cooling devices for their athletes.

The Olympic Games also represent a boost for the Seine-Saint-Denis department, home to the Olympic Village and the main athletics stadium for Paris 2024, one of the poorest areas in France.

Macron promised that these Paris suburbs would not be forgotten after the Olympics. “I will return after the Games to see the legacy with you and see how life has changed,” he said.