More than two weeks after the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, the head of the organizing committee for the Paris Olympic Games Tony Estanguet assured Tuesday that security conditions will be “there” for athletes and athletes. spectators in nine months. Asked about the impact that such a conflict could have, combined with a terrorist threat noted in France after the Arras attack and the Brussels attack, Tony Estanguet recalled that the Paris-2024 project had been launched “in aftermath of the 2015 attacks.
“An unprecedented device”
“This extremely tense context, with threats, has been present since the start of this adventure,” he assured on the sidelines of the presentation of the para-marathon. “It is an unprecedented system which has been put in place by the State to secure the organization of the Games,” he recalled. “Since the first day of this project, from the application phase, all the decisions that have been made have been taken taking into account maximum security risk.”
“What is happening today, the international and national context, is obviously taken into account. But somehow, it has been since the start of the project, even if we have to continue to adjust the system until the end. But we are moving forward, whether in the ceremonies or in the competitions, with ambition,” he explained.
Fears surrounding the opening ceremony
The government looked into security issues for the Paris Olympics on Friday during an interministerial committee in Matignon. The war, sparked by an unprecedented attack by Hamas terrorists in Israel on October 7, has raised new security fears, particularly around the opening ceremony on the Seine, for the first time in history outside of a stadium.
“The organization of an opening ceremony on the Seine in the heart of Paris includes security conditions which will be there,” said Tony Estanguet on Tuesday. “We are adjusting all the systems with the State and that is why the gauges, particularly on the high quays, are not yet completely finalized,” he added.