Squiz Shortcuts - Preparations for the Paris Olympics

Your Shortcut to the preparations for the Paris Olympics

The Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics is just days away - and it’s fair to say the City of Light has had its share of challenges just making it to the starting line. So in this Squiz Shortcut, we’ll look at:

• some of the trickiest issues organisers have faced

• how they’ve dealt with them

• and what thousands of athletes and fans descending on the city can expect.

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When do the Paris Olympics begin?
It’s going to be an early start if you want to watch the opening ceremony of the Games. The coverage kicks off at 3:30am Eastern time on Saturday morning, and you can watch all the action on Channel 9. 

Has it been a big job to get the city ready? 
Yep, these Games are the first to be held since the COVID-19 pandemic, so they’re expected to draw huge crowds. And while iconic sites like the Eiffel Tower, Parisian streetscapes, and the Seine River are going to be a stunning backdrop for the events, Paris is an old city and it had to be upgraded in a hurry.

What sorts of upgrades were needed?
They’ve built some new sports venues and had to spend €1.4 billion cleaning up the Seine River so that the water is clean enough for athletes competing in the triathlon and marathon swimming events to swim in it. 

So the river’s all good now?
Not quite... Independent tests of the water in recent weeks have found it contains unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria from sewage that gets washed into the river in excess rain - and experts still can’t guarantee it’ll be clean enough by the time the Games start.

Do people usually swim in the river?
Nope. It’s been illegal to swim in the Seine for more than a century due to high pollution levels. 

Didn’t the Mayor take a dip recently?
Oui, French Minister for Sport Amélie Oudéa-Castéra and Anne Hidalgo the Mayor of Paris have both taken the plunge recently to try and prove the Seine is clean. But they were wearing full-body suits at the time… 

Are the athletes taking any precautions?
Yep, the Aussies are planning to take antibacterial meds after each swim - and some teams, like the British, will wash their swimsuits in disinfectant after each race. Reports say the Brits have also been preparing for several months by eating yoghurt and taking probiotics to increase their gut bacteria. 

What other issues have the organisers faced?
Security is a big one, particularly after the recent political instability in France. There’s a caretaker government in place after the left alliance won the election for the lower house earlier this month, and President Emmanuel Macron will choose a new PM after the Olympics. In the meantime, the government has been frantically negotiating with unions to make sure there are enough essential workers like police and transport staff in place. 

How have they done that?
The government has agreed to pay police, airport workers and public transport staff bonuses for working during the 17 days of the Games - which are being held over France’s traditional summer holiday period - after they threatened to strike. 

What about counter-terrorism measures?
Yes, there are a lot of these in place. Police have been beefing up security around the city for weeks by adding perimeters and barricades around event areas and placing extra CCTV cameras on the streets. All of that is in addition to recruiting 2,200 extra police officers from France’s European Union neighbours. 

How many police will be patrolling the Games?
French authorities say 30,000 police officers will be working in Paris during the Olympics, and 45,000 will be on duty for the Opening Ceremony - many of them posted along the banks of the Seine. 

What else has been happening?
There have been tensions over the displacement of homeless people from the centre of Paris, and there’s been pushback by French athletes over a policy by French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra banning them from wearing any sort of religious garments, including hijabs for Muslim women while competing. 

How has that gone down?
Not well. The policy has been criticised by Amnesty International as an infringement on the athletes’ human rights, which they say is counter to the values of the Olympics.

How have French people reacted?
Parisians have taken to the streets to stage mass protests about this issue and also over the inclusion of Russia and Israel in the Games, given the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

Quelle surprise! 
Like fantastic bread and pastries, protests are a way of life in France. But so is putting on a great show…

What can the world expect from the Opening Ceremony?
This will be the first time an Olympics Opening Ceremony is held outside a stadium setting, and if all goes to plan, we’ll see 10,500 athletes floating in a parade of boats down the Seine. 

Très magnifique! What else?
Well, it’s not just Paris that’ll be on show throughout these Olympics - there are heaps of events planned to take place all over France - and beyond... For example, the equestrian events will be held in the grounds of the Palace of Versailles, the sailing will be in Marseilles, the soccer will be held in places like Nice, Bordeaux and Nantes, and the surfing will be all the way over in Tahiti.

I’ve heard these Games will be the “greenest” Olympics…
Yes, the French have very proudly billed the Paris Games as the most sustainable Olympics ever - not least because they will be run 100% on renewable energy. But there’s been a bit of pushback from athletes, especially when it comes to air conditioning... 

Why’s that?
Because there isn’t any in the Athletes’ rooms. Instead, they’ll be cooled using geothermal systems - meaning cold water pumped through pipes - and in the middle of the European summer, a lot of countries (Australia included) aren’t leaving things to chance, and they’re going to BYO air conditioning units.

I’ve heard something about the beds too…
Yeah, they’re made from recycled cardboard, and they’ve been the butt of quite a few jokes about what kind of “strenuous activity” they can withstand... 

Are you talking about after-hours “sport”?
Exactly. The 14,500 athletes staying in the Athletes’ Village will have access to 200,000 male condoms, 20,000 femidoms and 10,000 oral dams to make sure they’re playing safe, and people are wondering if the beds are up to the task.

You’d think they’d be too tired… 
Well, it is the City of Love… And while it’s been in the headlines due to all the political upheaval this year, the organisers are hoping that once the Games get underway and the gold medals and world records start to flow, Parisians - along with the rest of the world - will fall in love with France all over again. Let the Games begin!

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