Olympic opening by the river Seine

PARIS • Organisers of the Paris Games on Monday approved a plan to hold the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Games in the middle of the city instead of in a stadium, an unusual and symbolic shift to openness and accessibility after what is likely to be two consecutive Olympics largely closed to the public because of Covid-19.

The Paris 2024 organising committee plans to send more than 10,000 Olympians down the Seine in a parade of some 160 boats instead of having a traditional march into the Olympic Stadium.

The journey would end at the Eiffel Tower, and the celebration would occur in a plaza across the river from the landmark.

This will mark a departure from the long-held Summer Games tradition of a stadium procession of athletes and officials.

"Today is a standout moment," said Tony Estanguet, a three-time Olympic gold medallist in canoe slalom, who heads the Paris 2024 organising committee.

"There are a lot of emotions, a lot of enthusiasm.

"We wanted to imagine a new way and a new model. For France, it was so important for the future of the Games to have this model."

The announcement, less than two months before Beijing 2022 Winter Games organisers in China will hold an opening ceremony closed to foreign visitors, appeared to be an effort to signal bright prospects for the Olympics.

The coronavirus pandemic disrupted July's Tokyo Games, resulting in the competition being largely held behind closed doors, while foreign tourists have been banned from attending the Beijing Games, which starts on Feb 4.

The timing also highlighted France's efforts to have it both ways on the Beijing Games.

Paris 2024 organisers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have pledged a rosy future, while at the same time, France's government, like the IOC, have resisted calls to criticise China over human rights concerns.

After earlier criticisms of its actions in Tibet and Hong Kong and its crackdown on Uighurs Muslims in Xinjiang, China most recently has faced calls for boycotts of the Winter Games over its treatment of tennis player Peng Shuai.

 

The three-time Olympian has largely disappeared from public view since accusing a former top Communist Party official of sexual assault.

 

Unlike a handful of Western nations that have announced diplomatic boycotts to protest China's human rights record, France's government has chosen not to announce a similar shunning of Beijing 2022.

Estanguet, who plans to attend the Winter Olympics in February to observe, learn and meet with international sports officials, said he was personally opposed to any kind of a boycott or efforts that might put athletes in the middle of geopolitics.

He said it was not his place to comment on China's treatment of Peng, calling it a complex matter.

"Why are you requesting sport to be the ones in charge of these kinds of issues?" he said.

In taking the position that sports and politics should not mix, Estanguet's views mirror those of the IOC, which has for years faced criticism for its unwillingness to challenge China, a major partner in the Olympic movement.

Beijing hosted the Summer Games in 2008 and has invested billions to host the 2022 Winter Games after several European candidates dropped out of contention.

The Biden administration and the governments of several other Western democracies, excluding France, have announced in recent weeks that they will not send any government officials, which governments traditionally do as a sign of respect for the host nation, to Beijing.

The diplomatic boycott does not extend to American athletes, who will participate as planned, but for the IOC, the Beijing Games will be the second Olympics in seven months to be marred by calls for the competition not to take place.

In July and August, Tokyo staged the Summer Olympics amid surging coronavirus infection rates, and opinion polls consistently showed that more than 80 per cent of Japanese citizens wanted the Games postponed or cancelled.

However, Estanguet and other Paris organisers are pitching a different Olympic story.

He spoke of staging the most accessible Olympics in 2024, with half a million people able to watch the boat parade during the opening ceremony.

Estanguet spoke of his "absolute pride" in having worked on this idea. "For the first time in the history of the Games, we're going to organise a procession of athletes bang in the middle of the city, on the Seine," he said.

"10,500 athletes from 206 countries who will come to Paris and cross the city from east to west to see and discover our country's most beautiful cityscape.

"We expect at least 600,000 people, that's to say 10 times more than in a stadium like the Stade de France, for example. It is really an unprecedented first, where we manage to combine the most beautiful aspects of our history, our culture, our heritage."

In another proposed effort at openness, Estanguet said that thousands of runners would be allowed to run the Olympic marathon course after Games competitors, in what is being called the "Marathon Pour Tous" or "Marathon for All".

Also, competitions will take place throughout Paris at some of the city's landmarks.

Beach volleyball will be held in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, archery at Les Invalides and urban sports like BMX freestyle, skateboarding, breaking and 3x3 basketball at Place de la Concorde.

"That desire to take sport out of the stadiums to make it more accessible to the biggest number of people is really the DNA of Paris 2024," Estanguet added.

He said his organisation needed to announce its plan for the opening ceremony now to build support and begin planning for it.

"We need big celebrations and big moments for people all around the world to celebrate," Estanguet added.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, NYTIMES