Paris begins 100-day countdown to Olympics that could lift nation
In Paris' outskirts, a brighteyed young girl is eager for the Olympic and Paralympic Games to end.
That's because the swimming club where 10-year-old Lyla Kebbi trains will inherit an Olympic pool. It will be dismantled after the Games and trucked from the Olympic race venue in Paris' highrise business district to Sevran, a Paris-area town with less glitter and wealth.
There, the pieces will be bolted back together and — voila! — Kebbi and her swim team will have a new Olympic-sized pool to splash around in.
In 100 days, the Paris Olympics will kick off with a wildly ambitious water-borne opening ceremony. But the first Games in a century in France's capital won't be judged for spectacle alone. Another yardstick will be their impact on disadvantaged Paris suburbs, away from the city-centre landmarks that will play host to much of the action.
By promising socially positive and also less polluting and less wasteful Olympics, the city is setting itself the high bar of making future Games more desirable.
Potential host cities became so Games-averse that Paris and Los Angeles were the only remaining candidates in 2017 when the International Olympic Committee selected them for 2024 and 2028, respectively.
Virtuous Summer Games in Paris could help the long-term survival of the IOC's mega-event.
SPREADING BENEFITS BEYOND CENTRAL PARIS
The idea that the July 26-Aug. 11 Games and Aug. 28- Sept. 8 Paralympics should benefit disadvantaged communities in the Seine- Saint-Denis region northeast of Paris was built from the outset into the city's plans.
Seine- Saint-Denis got the new Olympic Village that will become housing and offices when the 10,500 Olympians and 4,400 Paralympians have left. It also is home to the Games' only purpose-built competition venue, an aquatics centre for diving, water polo and artistic swimming events. Other competition venues already existed, were previously planned or will be temporary.
Other Seine- Saint-Denis towns are also getting new or renovated pools.
PARIS GAMES' COSTS COMPARE FAVOURABLY
At close to €9 billion ($13.2 billion), more than half from sponsors, ticket sales and other non-public funding, Paris' expenses so far are less than for the last three Summer Games in Tokyo, Rio 2016 and London 2012.
Including policing and transport costs, the portion of the bill for French taxpayers is likely to be around €3 billion ($4.4 billon), France's body for auditing public funds said in its most recent study in July.
Security remains a challenge. The government downsized ambitions to have 600,000 people lining the River Seine for the opening ceremony.
Privacy advocates are critical of video surveillance technology being deployed to spot security threats. Campaigners for the homeless are concerned they will be swept off streets. Many Parisians plan to leave, to avoid the disruptions or to rent their homes to the expected 15 million visitors.