Opening ceremony could be moved to stadium
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics planned on the River Seine could be shifted instead to the country's national stadium if the security threat is deemed too high.
France is on high security alert ahead of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, which are expected to draw millions of visitors to the country.
Security concerns are notably high for the opening ceremony, which involves boats carrying athletes along the Seine on a 3.7mile parade and huge crowds watching from the embankments.
Speaking to French media BFM-TV and RMC, Macron said France’s law enforcement forces will be mobilized at an exceptional level for the security of the open-air event.
“But if we think there are risks, depending on our analysis of the context, we have fallback scenarios," Macron said. “There are plan Bs and plan Cs.”
The July 26 event is set to be the first Olympics opening ceremony held outside a stadium setting. About 10,500 athletes will parade through the heart of the French capital on boats on the Seine along the route ending in front of the Trocadéro.
To limit security risks, Macron said organizers could decide to shorten the itinerary of the parade on the Seine, and even to “repatriate the ceremony to the Stade de France” just outside Paris for a more conventional opening event. Macron did not give more details about the alternative plans.
Organizers had originally planned a grandiose opening ceremony for as many as 600,000 people, most watching free of charge from riverbanks. But security and logistical concerns have led the government to progressively scale back its ambitions. Earlier this year, the overall number of spectators was reduced to around 300,000.
The French government also decided that tourists won’t be given free access to watch the opening ceremony because of security concerns. Free access will be invitation-only instead.
Asked about the possibility of the opening ceremony being held in the stadium, Nicole Deal, the chief of security at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said: “From my point of view, I want the best experience for the athletes. Security is an underpinning and a foundation. We’re not the main show, so I want the best experience for Team USA athletes.”
Macron insisted that, for now, plans for the opening ceremony remain the same.
“It’s a world first. We can do it and we will do it,” he said.
Cross-border talks for 2030 Games ongoing
The favored French candidacy to host the 2030 Winter Olympics is in talks with the Netherlands and Italy to stage speed skating races.
The cross-border option was detailed by International Olympic Committee officials ahead of a visit next week to proposed venues in French Alps ski resorts and Nice, the upscale French Riviera coastal city.
Nice does not have enough venues for all events on ice, and the IOC now encourages hosts to avoid construction costs by finding cheaper solutions abroad.
“We have several candidates with whom the French team will discuss,” the IOC executive director of the Olympic Games, Christophe Dubi, said in an online briefing.
Dubi suggested France's neighbors Italy — which will host the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo — and the Netherlands, a longtime power in speed skating. The Dutch team won six speed skating gold medals at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, including three for Irene Schouten.
The French Alps bid is expected to be confirmed as the 2030 host at a July 23-24 meeting of the IOC in Paris on the eve of the Summer Games.