Doubts about holding Olympic opening ceremony on the Seine

The City of Light, Paris, has begun the countdown to the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics.

The city council and French President Emmanuel Macron said the world's biggest sporting event would run smoothly but concerns remain as France's alert level remains at its highest since the March terror attacks in Moscow, Russia, which were claimed by the Islamic State.

The volatile political situation, amid the war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East, has increased fears of possible attacks and made things even more difficult for organisers.

Last month, police arrested a teenager who they said was planning attacks during the Olympics. In a separate incident that further highlighted the gravity of the situation, a 26-year-old man was arrested in Bordeaux, France, for allegedly plotting a mass murder. These arrests have reinforced the need for tighter security measures as the Olympics draw near.

In April, President Macron acknowledged the possibility of moving the opening ceremony away from the Seine.

“We have alternative scenarios, a Plan B and a Plan C,” Macron told Politico.

Etienne Thobois, CEO of the Olympic organising committee, acknowledged there was a slight chance the ceremony could be postponed, but said he was “99.99% sure” it would go ahead as scheduled.

The opening ceremony, scheduled for July 26, has already been significantly scaled back. The city had originally expected more than 600,000 spectators to attend the event on the Seine River, with the athletes to be greeted by boat from the Eiffel Tower to the Trocadero, four miles downstream. But safety concerns mean that anyone wanting to watch the ceremony will have to buy tickets, with fewer than half the original attendance allowed.

There are also concerns about the safety of people swimming in the Seine. France is already working on cleaning up the river at a cost of $1.5 billion, in light of several events planned to be held there. But environmental groups have expressed concern about two types of bacteria found in the river. It is so polluted that swimming in the Seine has been illegal for more than 100 years.

It is also unclear whether Russian and Belarusian athletes will take part in the closing ceremony; they have announced that they will not take part in the opening parade 50 days from now. 58 athletes from Russia and Belarus have qualified to compete in the Olympics so far, but they will have to compete as neutral athletes, which means they will not use their flags, anthems or colours to represent their countries.

“A decision on the participation of the AIN in the Closing Ceremony will be made at a later stage, taking into account that it will not be teams that enter the Closing Ceremony but all athletes together,” International Olympic Committee chief executive James McLeod said at a news conference in Switzerland.

According to the Olympic Committee, the Neutral Individual Athletes (AIN) will have a joint national anthem and a specially designed flag.