Transport and security will be the great challenges of the next Olympic Games, said the head of the Portuguese mission for Paris 2024 in an interview with the Lusa agency, noting that even the opening ceremony is cause for apprehension.
Marco Alves spoke with Lusa days after returning from the French capital, where, one year after the start of the Olympic Games, scheduled between July 26 and August 11, 2024, the heads of mission of each country met in a seminar to learn about the progress of the preparations, with the message transmitted by the organizing committee and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to be “trustworthy” and that everything happen “on time”.
“The city of Paris is the city of Paris, that will not change. The magic that the city will bring to the Games is not just magic, it will also bring some challenges. Namely, traffic is the main topic that comes up in every one of the discussions,” she revealed.
The means of transport in Paris are, according to the head of mission, the biggest headache not only for the Portuguese delegation, but for most of the nations, which, although they share the sensitivity of the organization and the IOC for the use of public transport, are apprehensive.
“It could be a solution for the city of Paris, which is indeed well provided with public transport, that is, its metro network, for training. […] For the days of competitions, it was unanimously declared that this will not happen, because we ourselves use public transport during the seminar of the chiefs of mission, and there are always stops on the metro, there are always delays, there are always lines that work better than others, and we cannot run the risk that an athlete will not arrive on time for their competition”, he warned.
Therefore, on the days of the competitions, the use of public transport “will not be a reality”, having been “a point established by the national Olympic committees”, he guaranteed.
Marco Alves, who was already head of mission for Tokyo 2020, also did not hide some concern for the security of the Olympic Games, after France has experienced several episodes of violence in recent weeks, after the young Nahel was shot dead by a police officer on June 27, near Paris, during a traffic control.
“I think that [os episódios de violência] it will happen again unfortunately. I can’t be more transparent than this: we even had a visit to Nanterre during the seminar. We had received a contact from the university campus with a view to guaranteeing some support in terms of accommodation for our team and we canceled that visit. Precisely because of some fear, on my part -I don’t hide it-, of visiting a place where, indeed, things are not pacified. And that’s the reality of Paris,” he said.
Unfortunately, according to the Olympic official, “Parisians are used to living with this.” “The protests, the strikes, are already part of their day to day. Therefore, they are very used to this. Like the public security services, police and military are also very used to it, ”he stressed.
“So, on the one hand, yes, worried, but, on the one hand, also, in some way, reassured by the experience that they already have – unfortunately, I repeat – these contexts, these scenarios that recurrently occur in the city of Paris,” he added.
Another of the “concerns” of the national Olympic committees is the opening ceremony, which for the first time leaves a stadium to open up to the host city of the Games, and takes place in the middle of the Seine River.
“It will be, in itself, a challenge in itself. Yes, I would say that Paris brings a lot of new things to the Games, in terms of organization. And one of the pinnacles is undoubtedly the opening ceremony. The fact that they can admit a completely different number of spectators than what happens in a stadium, guarantees a completely different involvement of the city with the Games than what happened in the past. And that is, without a doubt, a milestone that these Games will leave, ”he praised.
However, these “unique conditions”, of having “a river crossing the city and having that moment for the athletes to parade”, imply “a security perimeter that is very difficult to guarantee”.
“And there are many concerns. Portugal is a peaceful country, let’s not forget it. We don’t have big confusions, to be very simplistic, with other countries. But there are other countries that don’t have [a mesma condição] traditionally because of the story that accompanies them in the editions of the Games, and that, indeed, show that concern about what is the guarantee of the security perimeter for those who will parade in the opening ceremony. There is even talk about how they are going to ‘hold’ the water, ”he explained.
It’s not just the perimeter where people will be watching the opening ceremony of Paris 2024 along the Seine and in the arteries leading there that worries delegations, but also how the French will ensure “that there is nothing inside the river that could compromise the security of this event.”
“Now, let’s hope that the magic of the Games, the Olympic truce, does indeed bring a bit of peace to the city and that, in Paris, we can witness a unique opening ceremony, the likes of which have never happened in the context of the Olympic Games,” he concluded.
Source: TSF
