In the late hours of the final Friday before the Olympic Games begin in Paris, a young waiter named Anatole closed up his brasserie for the night in the shadow of the Sainte‑Chapelle by the Seine. Under regular circumstances, the area would be flooded with tourists and potential customers crossing over the river to catch a glimpse of the famed Cathédrale Notre-Dame, but this time the brasserie and the surrounding area were completely empty. In the rare absence of humans, dozens of rats roamed the streets all night.
With less than a week to go until the Olympics officially open, areas directly surrounding the Seine have practically been locked down. Only those with a “Games Pass” QR code on their phone or an Olympic accreditation are allowed to cross certain parts of the river, meaning pedestrians are constantly turned away. The anti-terrorism security perimeter (SILT) will be in place until after the opening ceremony, which takes place on Friday over the Seine.
For Anatole, that means carrying on as usual even though business is down by more than 80% and tips are nonexistent. The modest flower market across the square, the 19-year-old noted, is in far worse shape for the week. Various booksellers and marketeers who normally do business by the Seine have also been removed despite their protests. The hope is that when the world finally arrives at their doorstep, the area will open up and business will bloom again.
Across Paris, there are notable differences compared with even six weeks ago during the French Open. Police are seemingly everywhere, certain areas have had small makeovers, and volunteers and workers are present around the city. Over the weekend, neighbourhoods were bustling until late at night as citizens enjoyed France’s capital before, at least for the next few weeks, it belongs to the world.
At the same time, genuine excitement is counterbalanced by cynicism and caution. One of the concerns is Paris’s transport system, already a constant source of frustration and which will be tested to the limits by the influx of visitors. Numerous train lines have been down in the past week. Other trains are packed, the lines without air conditioning leaving people melting in the formidable summer heat. There are further concerns over the movement of migrants from encampments up north in Saint-Denis.
That it is even possible to make these observations is a great relief after the delayed Tokyo Olympics of 2021. Three years ago, after the initial three‑day quarantine, the daily saliva tests and 11 days of taking buses between the hotel and event venue with no contact with the general population, one of my strongest memories was my first encounter with the public outside the Aomi Urban Sports Park, the temporary venue for sport climbing.
One of the surrounding hilly roads overlooked the venue, from where the climbing wall was barely visible. Signs and stewards implored spectators to keep away from the perimeter, but some resourceful citizens brought folding chairs and sat at the top of the hill to watch the climbing action from a distance. It was an emotional sight. For nearly three weeks the Olympics had taken over their country yet this was about as close as most of the wider Japanese public came to participating in their own Games. A key aim of the Paris Games is to bring the Olympics out of the stadium and to the wider public: 8.8 million tickets have already been sold, more than at any other Olympics.
One of the many lessons from the Tokyo Games was that no matter the surrounding circumstances, elite sport will deliver. If it was still compelling and dramatic in the silence of those echoing empty stadiums, it will be gripping at full force over the coming weeks. So many athletes have spent the past three years and more building up to this moment, their training, diet and schedule all aimed at peaking for the specific days of competition. There will be joy and devastation in equal measure.
The athletes will live out their dreams and nightmares in stunning surroundings: the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, the Château de Versailles, Grand Palais and a second trip to Roland Garros in six weeks. So many iconic venues will be reimagined in completely different context.
As much as the International Olympic Committee might try to present itself as existing in a politics‑free utopia, there are question marks surrounding the event and its member nations. More than 300 Palestinian athletes and sporting officials have been killed since the Israeli air attacks and ground incursion into the territory. More than 450 Ukrainian athletes have been killed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Global Rights Compliance claims that a large number of Russian and Belarusian athletes have broken neutrality rules. Humanitarian crises continue in Sudan and Congo.
Anti-doping will remain a massive issue, particularly after the recent revelations that Chinese swimmers had tested positive months before the Tokyo Games. The French team, meanwhile, have enforced a hijab ban at the same time that Paris 2024 describes inclusivity as a key pillar of its ambitions. The use of Tahiti as a venue for surfing, meanwhile, has drawn protests from locals over the controversial Olympic judging tower. And security remains a significant concern.
Seven years after Paris was confirmed as host city another Olympics, with all of its politics and contradictions alongside pure sporting excellence, has almost arrived.
