The Olympic rings and the event logo are seen on a building.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
The river Seine is ready. So is Paris.
France, and the whole world, needs another ‘Belle Epoque’ — French for beautiful age — at a time when Paris hosts the Olympics, a symbol of peace and unity, against a troubled backdrop of international wars and simmering domestic discontent.
Staging the Games for a third time — and a century after the 1924 edition — the organisers have decided to put up a show that is bold, original, and unique. Designed by theatre director Thomas Jolly, Friday’s much-anticipated opening ceremony will be held outside a stadium on the Seine, with boats carrying the athletes over a six-km stretch.
From Pont d’Austerlitz to Pont d’lena, with the final spectacle to be staged at Trocadero, the event will cover all the eye-catching monuments of this historic city with arrangements to accommodate 3,00,000 spectators.
The spectators’ response, though, has been lukewarm. Initially criticised for being highly priced, tickets reportedly remained unsold just a few days before the opening.
A reflection of the Eiffel Tower is seen in the Seine river on July 25, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
With a heavy police deployment, the emphasis on security is clear. The Ukraine war, the Israel-Gaza conflict, and the current political scenario in France are additional headaches for the organisers.
Paris has opted to marry the old and new, converting centuries-old historic buildings to sporting venues for the mega event.
After Athens hosted two editions in a gap of 108 years, the French capital became the second to host after a century and the second after London to do it thrice. Paris falls in a unique series of repeat Olympic hosts, sandwiched between the Tokyo and Los Angeles Games.
As the Games’ mascot, the Phrygian cap, a traditional symbol of rebellion speaking of the free-spirited French, is another novel aspect.
A family poses for photographs with the Olympic Rings at South Paris Arena 4, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, in Paris, on July 25, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
Breaking, a dance form which will make its debut at this Games, signals the winds of change and an apparent attempt to woo the younger generation towards the 128-year-old sporting extravaganza.
India, buoyant after its best-ever show of seven medals in the Tokyo Olympics and excited at the prospect of bidding for the 2036 Games, has fielded 117 athletes with a never-before sports science backup.
With World and Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and two-time medallist shuttler P.V. Sindhu leading the country’s hope, India would love to record a double-digit on the medals tally.
Spanish police and French gendarmerie are pictured at the Chatelet Les Halles train station, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
The current edition of the Olympics — which has taken an unimaginable leap, symbolised by a few grainy black-and-white pics from 1924 to the digital world in use now — could likely be the most well documented one.
Only a time travel to the early 20th century can tell us of the other changes that humanity and the Olympics have made over a century.
It’s time to welcome the ‘Games Wide Open!’
