President Emmanuel Macron said France was ready to host the Paris Olympics as he visited the Athletes’ Village on Monday, four days before the Games begin.
The Games return to the French capital for the first time since 1924, largely using temporary venues constructed in the centre of the city.
“We are ready and we will be ready throughout the Games,” Macron said.
“We have been working on these Games for years now and we are at the start of a decisive week which on Friday will see the opening ceremony and then the Olympiad which will be held in Paris, 100 years since the last one.”
He added: “This is the fruit of an immense amount of work which has profoundly changed the country, in particular the area” of Seine-Saint-Denis, where the Athletes’ Village is situated.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach also visited the Village to the north of the French capital, where thousands of athletes and officials are arriving, with up to 14,500 expected there at the peak of the Games.
Comprising 40 different low-rise housing blocks, the complex has been built by employing innovative construction techniques using low-carbon concrete, water recycling and reclaimed building materials.
It was also intended to be free of air conditioning with a natural cooling system, but some Olympic delegations are unconvinced and have ordered around 2,500 portable cooling units for their athletes.
Seine-Saint-Denis, where the main athletics stadium for the Olympics is also situated, is the poorest area in France and is hoping to reap benefits from the sports extravaganza.
Macron promised the area would not be forgotten after the Olympics.
“I will come back after the Games to see the legacy with you and to see how life has changed,” he said.
Israelis ‘welcome’
Meanwhile, as the Israeli team set off for Paris, France’s foreign minister said they were welcome at the Games after a hard-left member of the French parliament sparked outrage by urging them to stay away because of the conflict in Gaza.
“The Israeli delegation is welcome in France,” Stephane Sejourne said in Brussels ahead of talks with his Israeli counterpart, adding that the call by France Unbowed (LFI) lawmaker Thomas Portes for the country’s exclusion had been “irresponsible and dangerous”.
“We will ensure the security of the delegation,” Sejourne added.
Portes drew an angry response from French Jewish groups and both political opponents and allies.
Yonathan Arfi, head of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (Crif), said the comments were “putting a target on the backs of Israeli athletes”.
Arfi said Israeli athletes were “already the most in danger at the Olympic Games”, recalling the 11 “murdered by Palestinian terrorists” at the 1972 Munich Games.
LeBron chosen
Team USA named basketball superstar LeBron James as their male flagbearer for Friday’s opening ceremony on the river Seine.
James, the 39-year-old LA Lakers power forward who is the NBA’s all-time leading points scorer, said: “It’s an incredible honour to represent the United States on this global stage, especially in a moment that can bring the whole world together.”
In the ceremony, between 6,000 and 7,000 athletes will sail down the river on 85 barges and boats, with a backdrop of world-famous monuments including Notre-Dame cathedral, currently being renovated after a devastating fire in 2019.
The athletes will disembark for the culmination of a ceremony at the Trocadero opposite the Eiffel Tower that organisers promise will be spectacular.
Another star who was set to challenge for Olympic gold, Tadej Pogacar, pulled out of the Games on Monday citing tiredness after winning his third Tour de France title 24 hours earlier.
“Unfortunately Tadej Pogacar has cancelled his participation because of a state of extreme fatigue,” Slovenian Olympic cycling coach Uros Murn said in a statement.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.