Paris faces political turmoil and protests as Olympics approach

With the whole tumultuous atmosphere surrounding the 2024 Summer Olympics — both huge and minor — it’s not entirely unexpected that Parisians have taken “poop protest” levels of threat.

Their anger focuses on plans for triathletes and marathon swimmers to compete in the Seine River, which has been contaminated by sewage and waste for hundreds of years.

There was no backup when Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced a surprise plunge into the iconic waterway. A site with the poop emoji as its mascot has sprung up to coordinate the hundreds, if not thousands, of people defecating on the shore during their swim.

While it remains to be found out if the mayors – and their constituents – will excel on their respective agreements, there are enough additional problems for the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee to handle. With no more than two weeks left for the funeral, the list includes price hikes and worrying turnout numbers, a central authority probe and political turmoil both at home and abroad.

None of this means that video games are doomed. Beach volleyball on the lower structure of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and horseback riding competitions in Versailles will be a spectacular backdrop. These will be the first post-pandemic video games, promising huge crowds and hustle and bustle on the streets.

However the latest turmoil underlines the complexity of welcoming hundreds of athletes and fans from around the world. French President Emmanuel Macron told AFP news agency that the Olympic Games, no matter where they are parked, were bound to create “inconveniences”.

Historical past shows that some towns overcame the obstacles effectively. For example, the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics resulted in enthusiastic celebrations and ended with millions in surplus income. Alternative hosts have not been so lucky.

Montreal and Athens accumulated huge debts. Rio de Janeiro spent billions on ancient places that became brand new in no time. At the 1972 Munich Games the athletes’ village was infiltrated by Palestinian terrorists, in an attack that killed 11 Israeli group participants.

Recently, Tokyo and Beijing struggled to generate revenue amid COVID-19 restrictions.

Paris is confident that his gamble will be successful. “This is going to do our country some good,” Hidalgo said when his city was named host in 2017.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, left, and Tony Estanguet, head of the Paris 2024 Olympic organizing committee, stand together in front of the Eiffel Tower on June 7.

(Michelle Euler/Associated Press)

The primary fear of any Olympics is investment and, in the case of Paris, plans to secure most of the bill with privately raised cash. As the budget cap has substantially increased to $10 billion, organizers have come under greater scrutiny, including scrutiny of the development promises they made and the decision to give President Tony Estanguet an annual salary of $290,000 plus incentives. Is.

Last summer the French Court of Auditors cited “uncertainties” in the budget and suggested that, depending on how much revenue is generated, the Games could require $3.2 billion or more in the government budget. Amid proceedings about price ticket costs, a 2023 survey suggested that 44% of citizens in and around Paris considered website hosting a “bad thing”.

The French anti-Olympic coalition Sacage 2024 said, “For us, no event of Olympic proportions can be organized without corruption.” “It’s the size of the event that makes it essential, no matter the country.”

Unions representing public sector workers such as police and air traffic controllers have demanded bonuses for the 17-day run of the Games, which coincides with France’s traditional summer holidays. Threatening measures could paralyze the city.

Activists have raised concerns about the displacement of the homeless population, and nationwide restrictions on Islamic dress in general have sparked discussion over what visiting athletes and guests will be allowed to wear.

If all this weren’t enough, Macron recently called for a snap election, which would have transferred power to the far-right National Rally party. Although the leftist Fresh Pervasive Entrance coalition won, with Macron’s centrist Birthday Party coming in second, legislators will now have to build on ancient coalitions to avoid parliamentary chaos.

Supporters of the leftist union Fresh Pervasive Entrance protesting at the Playground de la Republique in Paris on 7 July.

(Anadolu via Getty Pictures)

Michael Payne, a former World Olympic Committee executive, said, “Probably the organizers had every contingency on their operation sheet.” “They certainly didn’t have that.”

Nor could they have envisioned the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars that would force them to do business with street protests and disagreements over which athletes to invite or not.

So the arena is watching to see what happens then. Los Angeles officials are notably on deck to host in 2028.

“If someone has done this before me, I want to know what they learned,” Mayor Karen Bass later said of a contemporary fact-finding enterprise in France. “Pros and cons.”

The organizers of Paris can fully expect that their Olympics will see a regular pattern.

Video games have frequently generated controversy over the past weeks and months. As Payne said: “It’s not easy to bring it all together as the organizing committee goes under the magnifying glass. He gets upset over the smallest thing.”

After this comes the hole ritual.

On July 26, Paris will host a sophisticated party with officials and athletes who will travel on boats on the Seine. An executive of the organizing committee went swimming in the river over the weekend and Hidalgo was still promising to jump in, prompting new tests that showed what he called reasonable bacteria levels.

As the competition begins, gold medals and international data dominate the headlines, while the TV sharpens the focus with smart, moderately framed digital camera photographs. Community opinion tends to shift in a good direction.

“Organizers and the IOC are praying for the Games to start,” Payne said. “Once they start, that becomes the story.”

For 17 days. Nearing this, the population may start complaining once again.