Little by little the Olympic spirit takes over the French capital and the sub-venues of the event under the five rings, a scenario confirmed by Prensa Latina in a tour of the city that plans to welcome more than 15 million tourists.
The atmosphere begins to be contagious, while work is being done at an intense pace to erect temporary structures in emblematic sites such as the Places de la Concorde and Trocadero, the Champs Elysées, the Alexander III Bridge, the Palace of the Invalides and the Champs de Mars.
The passage of the Olympic flame on its 12,000-kilometer journey through Gallic soil helps a lot to set the scene, a popular festival that will cover more than 400 cities and communes on its journey, stopping this Wednesday in the beautiful historical region of Alsace.
The majestic Eiffel Tower has been displaying the five giant rings that symbolise the summer event for several days now, and on Sunday the official statue of the Games was inaugurated in the Charles Aznavour park, bearing a message of peace and fraternity.
We see the effervescence, not everything is ready, but it is taking shape, said the president of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Organizing Committee, Tony Estanguet.
The president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, welcomed the progress of preparations for the Olympic Games, which will take place from 26 July to 11 August and from 28 August to 8 September.
The day before, more than a hundred young people tried out for the first time the famous purple track of the Stade de France, where the athletics competitions will take place.
There are still challenges to overcome, particularly linked to the heritage Seine River.
The rains of May and June in the Paris Region triggered its flow and with it the contamination of its waters, which analyzes show are still not suitable for human bathing, which is worrying because they will have to host the triathlon, the paratriathlon and the marathon. the swimming.
On Monday, the last simulation of the opening parade of Paris-2024 had to be suspended due to the high flow, a unique ceremony in Olympic history, as it was planned outside a stadium, with more than 300 thousand spectators and the parade of athletes in boats. .
The organizers and Parisian authorities assure that the arrival of summer will help the measures adopted to declare the Seine ready in a couple of weeks.
Another colossal challenge is security, with the threat of a latent terrorist attack and the large presence of tourists in the city.
In this sense, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, declared today to the newspaper Le Parisien that they are “extremely prepared” and offered details of the actions underway, including the exclusion of 2,700 people from the preparations and development of the games, by identifying them as a potential risk. He also worries about the political crisis prevailing in France, just four days before the holding of legislative elections.
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