All eyes turn to the City of Lights for 2024...
FRANCE rolled out the red carpet for the Olympic flag yesterday, with the host of the next 2024 Summer Games promising to make the sporting spectacle open to the masses after a pandemic-hit Tokyo Games held behind closed doors. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo waved the flag, which she was handed in Tokyo during the handover ceremony as she stepped out of the aircraft bringing home some of the country’s last athletes. The 2024 games would be ‘something very positive for our country. They come at a good moment,’ said Hidalgo. Paris she said had learned many lessons from Tokyo’s experience. Delayed by a year and upended by strict Covid-19 countermeasures as contagious variants surged back around the world, the 2020 Games fell short of the triumph and financial windfall Japan had wanted. In a nod to breaking with an old madefor-TV format, organisers of the Paris games have for the past year been working on taking the opening ceremony out of the Olympic stadium and into the heart of the French capital. For the first time, amateur runners will participate in the marathon, roadbiking enthusiasts will cycle the course soon after the Olympians and sailing enthusiasts may be able to do battle in real-time with their sporting heroes. ‘We need to balance the tradition of the Olympics with creativity and innovation,’ Estanguet has said. Paris will become the second city after London to host the Olympic games three times. The year 2024 will mark the 100th anniversary since the Games were last held there. Many events will be held against the backdrop of some of Paris’ most beautiful landmarks. Beach volleyball will take place at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, skateboarding in the Place de la Concorde and fencing at the ornate Grand Palais. Equestrian events will be held in the grounds of the sumptuous Versailles Palace outside the capital. Meanwhile, Tahiti, in French Polynesia, will host surfing events. At 15,706 kms from Paris, this will smash the record for the farthest Olympic competition to be held from the host city. If the IOC gives its approval, the offshore sailing race will be the first where amateur sailors can compete with the Olympians online, in real time and on the same course. The 2024 games will cost a projected €3.9 billion to organise, Paris has said.