The term is no longer taboo. And behind the scenes, work is being done. According to our information, which partially confirms that of the Canard Enchaîné, several meetings have been held in recent weeks to discuss the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and its “plan B,” mentioned by Emmanuel Macron in his interview on France 5 at the end of December. Various options are being discussed in the presence of the Secretary-General of the Elysée, Alexis Kohler, to prepare fallback solutions for the evening of July 26, when around 10,000 athletes are to parade on the Seine to officially launch the Olympics.
Around the table, there were representatives from the Organizing Committee (Cojo), the Paris police prefecture, and the Ile-de-France prefecture, in charge of river traffic. Many scenarios are being considered by the participants. Contingency plans, ready to be deployed in the event of increased terrorist risk or any other threat to the safety of participants or the public, are being discussed.
One of the options being considered leads to the Trocadéro, a possible fallback plan. As mentioned in December by L’Equipe, the Trocadéro, a location in the capital already closed off, is where the parade would end and would serve as a backdrop for dignitaries and heads of state. “We could hold a sort of scaled-down ceremony there, but only as a last resort if we had to remove the athletes from the Seine. For now, it’s not the trend,” said one participant. Several sources deny the seriousness of the option attributed to Alexis Kohler by the Canard Enchaîné to only place the flag bearers of each delegation on the barges.
“This is completely ridiculous,” said someone familiar with the matter, referring to a plan thought up by “someone distant” from these meetings. “It’s just one option,” said another source. The Elysée denied this hypothesis when contacted by Le Parisien-Aujourd’hui en France.
“The preparations for the opening ceremony on the Seine continue, based on the original idea of Thierry Reboul (director of events for Paris 2024), confirmed by the president of the Republic,” explained Emmanuel Macron’s entourage. The architecture of this ceremony is taking shape, with the possibilities for adaptation if circumstances require it. However, the options presented in the Canard Enchaîné article of February 7, 2024 have never been discussed.
But if necessary, these considerations “are a way to reassure the public, to say that there is another way to do things if unforeseen security issues arise a few days before the event,” said someone close to a participant. As it stands, the priority for the organizers of the event is to work on Plan A. This includes considering the spectator capacity on the upper banks of the Seine, which was further reduced by Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin at the end of January.
If 500,000 people, in addition to the 100,000 paid seats on the lower docks, were planned for in the scenario unveiled at the end of 2021, the Minister of the Interior reduced this number to 220,000 in an interview on France 2. “This is something that could be adjusted if necessary,” said a security source. The police continue to plan the deployment and organization of the ceremony in its original philosophy. Paris 2024, which is selling 100,000 tickets for the lower part of the quays, is also in the same mindset.
The same goes for the boatmen involved in the parade on the evening of July 26. As with every month, a meeting was held within the Paris Port Community, which brings together the river’s stakeholders. “No one has considered such a scenario. On the contrary, we toasted to the future opening ceremony in five and a half months,” said a participant.
“The organization of the parade continues. In any case, no one is giving any indication that everything might stop,” commented a ship owner who has billed the upcoming deadline of the contract signed with the organizers of the opening ceremony. For now, the state is holding steady but is prepared to react in case of an emergency.
