On Monday, July 22, President Emmanuel Macron said France is ready to host Paris Olympics when he visited the Athletes’ Village four days before the Games begin.
He said, “We are ready and we will be ready throughout the Games.”
“We have been working on these Games for years now and we are at the start of a decisive week which on Friday will see the opening ceremony and then the Olympiad which will be held in Paris, 100 years since the last one.”
“This is the fruit of an immense amount of work which has profoundly changed the country, in particular the area of Seine-Saint-Denis, where the Athletes’ Village is situated.”
President Thomas Bach, the International Olympic Committee President, has also visited the athlete’s Village to the north of the French capital, where thousands of athletes and officials are arriving, with up to 14,500 expected there at the peak of the Games.
The complex comprises of 40 low rise housing blocks, and was built by making us of innovative construction techniques like low-carbon concrete, water recycling and reclaimed building materials.
It was built to be free of air-conditioning with a natural cooling system, but some Olympic delegations are unconvinced about it, so they ordered around 2,500 portable cooling units for their athletes.
Seine-Saint-Denis, where the main athletics stadium for the Olympics is stationed at, is the poorest area in France and is hoping to reap benefits from the sports extravaganza. President Macron promised that the area will not be forgotten after the Olympics.
He said, “I will come back after the Games to see the legacy with you and to see how life has changed.”
France’s foreign minister also said Israeli athletes are welcome at the Paris Games after a member of the French parliament had urged the the Israeli athletes to stay away because of the conflict in Gaza.
Stephane Sejourne said in Brussels ahead of talks with his Israeli counterpart that, “The Israeli delegation are welcome in France.” Also adding that the statement made by France Unbowed (LFI) lawmaker Thomas Portes, for Israel to be excluded had been “irresponsible and dangerous”. He also added that there will be security for the delegates.
Portes words were met with angry response from both, French Jewish groups, political opponents and allies.
Head of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (Crif), Yonathan Arfi, said the comments will “put a target on the backs of Israeli athletes”.
Arfi said Israeli athletes are “already the ones mostly in danger at the Olympic Games”, referring to the 11 “murdered by Palestinian terrorists” at the 1972 Munich Games.
Meanwhile, French security forces will continue making preparations for the unprecedented opening ceremony on Friday, which will be the first time a Summer Olympics has opened outside the main stadium.
6,000 to 7,000 athletes are to sail down the river on 85 barges and boats, with a backdrop of world-famous monuments including Notre Dame Cathedral, currently being renovated after a devastating fire in 2019.
The athletes will alight for the Apex of a ceremony at the Trocadero opposite the Eiffel Tower that organisers promise will be spectacular.
Up to 300,000 ticketed spectators will watch from stands and on the river banks and another 200,000 are expected to watch from the overlooking apartments.
Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar, is setting his sights on Olympic gold in the road race after winning the Tour de France for the third time on Sunday.
Pogacar, after completing a commanding victory in Nice, where the finish was moved to because of the Olympic preparations in Paris, he said that, ” we’re living to the golden age of cycling.”
