How is Paris preparing for the Olympics and Paralympics?

Image source, Getty Images

The Olympic torch has been lit and is on its way from Greece to Paris for the start of the Games on 26 July.

The Games’ organisers say they will be protected by an “unprecedented security operation”.

When are the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games?

The summer Olympics are from 26 July to 11 August, with 10,500 athletes competing in 329 events.

The Paralympics run from 28 August to 8 September, featuring 4,400 athletes in 549 events.

There will be 206 countries represented at the Olympics, and 184 at the Paralympics.

More than 15 million tourists are expected in Paris during the Games.

Where will Olympic and Paralympic events take place?

The main athletics events will be held at the Stade de France, on the northern outskirts of Paris.

However, there will be 15 Olympic and 11 Paralympic venues in the city centre. For example, the Pont d’Iena will host cycling events and the start and finish points for the marathon will be at the Hotel de Ville and Les Invalides.

Games venues in the centre of Paris will be cordoned off to the public and there will be extensive traffic restrictions.

A number of Metro stations and railway stations will also be closed for part or all of duration of the Games.

How are France’s security forces preparing for the Olympics?

Worried about threats such as a drone attack, the government has cut spectator numbers for the Olympic opening ceremony.

The event is expected to see the national teams parading in boats along a 6km (3.8 mile) stretch of the River Seine through the centre of the capital.

The original plan was to give free tickets to 600,000 members of the public to watch from the banks. Now, however, tickets will go to only 300,000 invited guests.

Image source, Paris 2024

Image caption, The opening ceremony for the Olympics will feature a parade of athletes on boats on the Seine

French President Emmanuel Macron said the ceremony could be moved from the Seine altogether if the security risk seems too great.

Instead, the entire event could be held in the Trocadero Gardens or the Stade de France.

Security services have been screening one million people involved in the Games, including athletes, residents living close to the Olympic venues, medical staff and volunteers.

Image caption, French soldiers have had special security training ahead of the Olympics

French Prime Minster Gabriel Attal said intelligence services uncovered two plots against the country by suspected Islamic militants in early 2024.

“The terrorist threat is real, it’s strong,” he said.

Has Russia been banned from Paris 2024?

Neither Russia nor Belarus are allowed to send teams, because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Belarus’s support for it.

They will not be allowed to parade in the opening ceremony and will not have their national anthems played, or their national flags raised, if they win medals.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, The Soviet Union held “Friendship Games” as a rival to the 1984 Olympics and Russia will do the same in 2024

Russia has said it is “outraged” at its athletes’ treatment and has announced a “World Friendship Games” in Moscow and Yekaterinburg in September.

The Soviet Union held a similar event in 1984, after boycotting the summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

President Macron said that Russia has also been conducting a propaganda campaign to undermine the Paris Games, including putting out stories claiming they are being badly organised.

Has Israel been banned from Paris 2024?

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov criticised the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for not also barring Israel from taking part, because of its military operation in Gaza.

However, IOC president Thomas Bach rejected the demand and confirmed Israel’s participation.

Are the Games popular in France?

One opinion poll suggested that 44% of Parisians think hosting the Olympics is a “bad thing”, with many planning to leave town.

Bus and metro fares will double in the capital during the Games.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Les Phryges’ are the Games’ mascots. Their motto is “Alone we go faster, but together we go further”

The Olympic and Paralympic Village and a new aquatics centre are in a region north of Paris called Seine-Saint-Denis – one of the poorest parts of France.

Charities complained after hundreds of squatters were evicted from buildings close to the new sites.

Many Parisians are irritated at the security restrictions which will be imposed in the city centre.

“Paris will be unbearable,” one resident told the BBC. “Impossible to park; impossible to move around; impossible to do anything.”