Paris 2024: problems that would remain unsolved a few months before the start of the Olympic Games

There are just a few months left until the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which have had several difficulties since it was announced that they would host this sporting event.

Since Paris’ bid to host the Olympic Games was launched and won in 2017, the project has undergone multiple changes by its organizers and public administrations.

These are the main promises unfulfilled by Paris-2024 during these seven years:

Popular games?

The price of tickets, considered by many to be very high, does not match the promised popular Games, despite the fact that the organizers defend that the cost of the tickets is similar to that of London 2012.

Another aspect that calls into question the popularity of the event refers to the unprecedented opening ceremony scheduled in the Seine, but which has undergone important changes, especially in the number of spectators who will be able to see it live.

If the Paris City Council initially wanted the maximum number of people possible, it was announced that 600,000 people could attend the ceremony, of which only 100,000 would do so with paid tickets, on the lower quays of the river.

However, as the date has approached and for security reasons, the number has been reduced to 222,000 people, maintaining the 100,000 paid tickets.

And the philosophy has changed too. If at first it was thought that spectators who wanted to attend would sign up for a kind of raffle through a platform, now all attendees will be invited directly by public administrations and the organizing committee.

Public money

Contrary to the widespread idea among public opinion, there will be a large amount of private money that will finance the Games.

However, the slogan used by the French government for months of “The Games finance the Games” will not be fulfilled either.

The different French public administrations have already invested more than 2.4 billion euros (2.65 billion dollars) in infrastructure, urban works, but also in the anti-doping laboratory, for example.

The amount of the final bill is unknown at the moment, which will have to include the cost related to security, the bonuses paid to officials, including police officers. “There will be no Games-tax,” Macron reiterates, despite the fact that many expenses for the Games will come from public coffers.

The president of the Court of Auditors, Pierre Moscovici, recently estimated that the final public investment will be between “3,000 and 5,000 million euros.” The answer will come after the event.

From the free metro to the 4 euro ticket

Although the bid dossier announced that “all ticket holders will be able to travel free of charge on all public transport in the Paris region on the day of this competition”, in the end this will not be the case.

In December 2022 it changed its mind to seek additional income following a budget review.

Several months later, the public transport operator of the Paris region announced special prices during the Games: 4 euros for a single metro ticket! An increase of almost double compared to current prices that was tried to be justified with the fact that public transport traffic will increase by 15% during the event.

Reference image of the Olympic rings

One of the few sports facilities built expressly for the Games is the Olympic Aquatic Center (OAC) located in Saint Denis, next to the Stade de France. However, in this brand new complex the swimming events will not finally be held, since for budgetary reasons, the capacity was reduced to 5,000 spectators, a third of what the international federation (World Aquatics) requires to hold an international swimming competition. swimming.

Thus, the water polo, artistic swimming and diving events will be held at the CAO, while the pool stars will have to go to the other side of the capital, to La Défense Arena, which will host the races of one of the main sports of the games.

Environmental impact, from positive to neutral

It was initially announced that the environmental impact of the Games would be “positive”, with the idea of ​​offsetting CO2 emissions, but the project was later scrapped.

Several experts had already criticized even the initial idea, for giving the misleading idea that the event would not have an environmental impact.

Now, the organization aims to reduce CO2 emissions by half, which is.