Grandiose opening festivities squeezed
PARIS -- The talk before the opening ceremony of the Paris Games ideally should be about its grandiose backdrop: a summer sun setting on the Seine River as athletes drift by in boats and wave to cheering crowds.
But behind the romantic veneer that Paris has long curated, mounting security concerns already have had an impact on the unprecedented open-air event. In January, the number of spectators allowed to attend the ceremony was slashed from around 600,000 to around 320,000.
Tourists were told they won’t be allowed to watch it for free from riverbanks because the French government scaled back ambitions amid ongoing security threats. Then, on March 24, France raised its security readiness to the highest level after a deadly attack at a Russian concert hall and the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility.
French President Emmanuel Macron says the ceremony could be shifted instead to the national stadium at Stade de France if the security threat is deemed too high.
Security and transportation are the biggest concerns heading into the Paris Games, which run from July 26-Aug. 11.
Here is an overview of preparations:
VENUES
The Olympic Village and the bio-based Aquatics Centre are in proximity to Stade de France. The 5,000-seat aquatics venue made predominantly of wood connects to the national stadium via a footbridge.
While the village and the aquatics center in the poor, rundown area both leave a legacy for the future, the Games are steeped in history across the 35 venues.
Equestrian riders will gallop on the grounds of the royal Palace of Versailles, where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette once held lavish banquets.
B-boys and B-girls cutting improbable shapes, BMX freestylers launching into gravity-defying moves, skaters flipping boards and 3-on-3 basketball players facing off will provide a youthful vibe at an urban park at Place de la Concorde, a prominent location in France’s gory past.
It is where Louis XVI died by guillotine in 1793 and where French revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre met the same fate a year later. It’s also been home to the Luxor Obelisk for nearly 200 years.
The Grand Palais, built for the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1900, hosts fencing and taekwondo, while the Yvesdu-Manoir Stadium in the northwest suburb of Colombes is another link to the past: It was the main venue for the 1924 Paris Games. This time it holds field hockey matches.
The Parc des Princes soccer stadium, home to Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe, is one of seven stadiums around the country hosting matches. France fans hope Mbappe will play for Les Bleus.
Beach volleyball takes place near the foot of the Eiffel Tower, while tennis, naturally, is at Roland Garros, home of the French Open. Roland Garros, where Rafael Nadal has made history with his record 14 Grand Slam titles at one tournament, also packs a punch as the venue for boxing.
Surfers won’t be in Paris, however, but rather nearly 10,000 miles away in Teahupo’o, a coastal village in Tahiti, and they will sleep on a cruise ship docked at the French Polynesian island.
Breezy Marseille hosts the sailing events.