Up to 600,000 tickets remain unsold five days before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, including for the 100 metres final and Josh Kerr’s attempt at gold in the 1,500 metres, French media reported.
There are also 4,000 seats left for Friday’s opening ceremony, but only in the most expensive categories, ranging from £758 to £2,300.
Organisers confirmed at a press conference in Paris that more than 20 sports still had seats available, thanks in part to late ticket releases and contingency planning. However, some of the cheaper seats are surprisingly still available for the main events at the Stade de France.
Seats priced from £71 are still available to watch the men’s 1500 metres final, which could feature Britain’s top medal contender Kerr, and the women’s 200 metres final. Tickets for the women’s 100m final, which takes place a week later on Saturday, and the men’s 100m final the following day in the evening are still outstanding at £248.
Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet, a three-time Olympic canoeing champion, rejected suggestions that the availability of tickets reflected a lack of interest in France. Estanguet explained that many of the tickets still on sale were available due to “unforeseen circumstances. He also explained:
“We had 10 million tickets in total at the beginning, but we took 20 per cent of the total for contingencies. In the past six months, new opportunities to buy tickets have emerged. That’s why tickets are still available a week in advance because we now have a finalised delivery plan. So far, 8.8 million tickets have been sold in Paris.”
Paris hopes security won’t spoil the Olympics opening
As Paris authorities make final preparations for the Summer Olympics, the opening ceremony on the banks of the Seine River on Friday poses an unprecedented security challenge that organisers hope will not spoil the celebrations.
For the first time, the Games’ opening ceremony will not take place in a stadium. Instead, dozens of boats will carry thousands of athletes and performers on a 6-kilometre floating parade down the Seine, showcasing the beauty and history of the French capital.
More than 300,000 people are expected to line both sides of the river to watch the ceremony – along with 45,000 police officers, including members of France’s elite special forces trained in counter-terrorism. Snipers will be stationed on top of buildings along the route and a drone defence system will be installed. Estanguet told a press conference on Sunday:
“There’s a balance to be found between top security, which is absolutely the priority. It’s part of the objective to guarantee the security and to propose a fantastic celebration of the Games… But to have this kind of unique celebration, you also need to have a very, very strong security plan. And that’s the case.”
The ceremony, which starts at 7.30 p.m. local time (1730 GMT), will be a “grand mural” celebrating Paris, France and the Games, and will intertwine the traditional parade of athletes with artistic performances and elements of protocol, said Thomas Jolly, artistic director of the opening ceremony.
Applications for accreditation rejected
French security services have rejected more than 4,000 applications for accreditation for the 2024 Paris Olympics, including for espionage and cyberattacks, the country’s interim interior minister said on Sunday. Gérald Darmanin said French authorities had screened about a million applications for accreditation to the Games and rejected 4,340, some of which were linked to radical Islamists or suspected of being foreign spies. Nearly a hundred people were rejected because of espionage fears or suspicions that they were agents trying to gain accreditation using a different profession. Darmanin told the weekly Journal du Dimanche:
“They are probably not there to carry out attacks. But in addition to intelligence and traditional espionage, there is the possibility of accessing entry points into computer networks to carry out a cyberattack.”
He said they applied as journalists or technical staff, and their countries of origin were Russia and Belarus, as well as other countries he did not name. He also added:
“For example, we refused a large number of “journalists” who claimed to cover the Games. On the other hand, we accepted the presence of Russians who work for the International Olympic Committee (IOC). We apply the precautionary principle.”
Russian journalists have been accredited for the Games and have already arrived in the French capital.
Israeli athletes not welcome at Olympics
Outrage after French lawmaker says Israeli athletes not welcome at Paris Olympics A French leftist lawmaker sparked outrage among lawmakers and Jewish organisations when he said at a rally at the weekend that Israeli athletes were not welcome at the Paris Olympics because of the war with Hamas in Gaza.
At an anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian rally on Saturday, La France Insoumise (LFI) MP Thomas Portes condemned Israel’s participation in the Games, which begin on July 26, and called for “mobilisation around this event” in a speech covered by French newspaper Le Parisien. He said:
“I am here to say that no, the Israeli delegation is not welcome in Paris. Israeli athletes are not welcome at the Olympic Games in Paris.”
The leftist lawmaker’s remarks drew anger Sunday from Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France.
Calling Portes’ statement “irresponsible,” Arfi accused him of endangering Israeli athletes and recalled the 1972 Munich Olympics, where 11 members of the Israeli team were killed by Palestinian terrorists from the Black September group, to emphasise the dangers faced by Israeli delegations in the past.
“Unprecedented” security measures
The Paris 2024 organising committee has already assured that “unprecedented” measures will be taken to secure the Games, including the deployment of 30,000 police and gendarmes, which will be reinforced by some 20,000 soldiers. In addition, between 17,000 and 22,000 private security guards are expected at Olympic venues and fan zones.
The Telegraph also reported on Sunday that members of the Shin Bet security agency will accompany Israeli athletes throughout the Games. The guards will be armed and will work in co-operation with local French security services and Paris police. Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s office said Sunday that he will attend a boat parade on the Seine River on Friday and a memorial ceremony for Israelis killed in Munich in 1972.
