sport news Paris Olympics' ambitious opening ceremony poses a great security risk but US ... trends now
With the Paris Olympics fast approaching, French President Emmanuel Macron has admitted the ambitious opening ceremony could be scrapped amid security threats. And Team USA is on high alert.
The Paris Olympiad is currently set to open with a great four-hour spectacular down the Seine. Athletes will parade down six kilometers of the river on 160 boats, starting at the Austerlitz Bridge and finishing at the Trocadero with a record opening ceremony crowd of 326,000 expected. A security nightmare.
A security nightmare that will take place just over two years removed from the Champions League final catastrophe in the French capital.
Less than a year since the Rugby World Cup suffered similar issues at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille.
And just over 100 days after the risk of World War III rocked the world and ISIS threatened soccer games in the city.
USOPC Chief Security and Athlete Services Officer Nicole Deal feels reassured
Liverpool fans struggled to get into the Champions League final in Paris back in 2022
But USOPC Chief Security and Athlete Services Officer Nicole Deal insists the French have learned their lesson.
'I think they learned from their experiences, and that's what brings me reassurance,' she said at the Team USA Media Summit in New York last month.
'They're not stuck in their ways of doing things. They're learning and they're adapting their security to the crowds.
'For instance, I'm going to use soccer crowds for the Olympics. They're very different from World Cup or Champion League crowds. So you have to adjust your security to meet that crowd and what threat that they will bring. I think they've been really responsive to that, and understanding the differences.'
Deal is living life constantly on the road with weeks remaining until the Paris Olympics, jetting back and forth between the French capital and the United States to coordinate with the French and other national governing bodies.
And Deal, a former Special Agent in the US Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security, insists that the 'super cooperative' French authorities have it under control.
They have already been carrying out countless procedures to ensure the area is secured, she explains.
Decals have been done on vehicles that will be parked along the roads and background checks carried out on residents of the buildings. Hotels will be under strict control, with entrance to the riverside restricted.
Deal insisted the French have learned their lesson from past errors at the Team USA Summit
Thousands of fans were stuck outside Stade Velodrome ahead of England versus Argentina
They've been working with the NYPD to learn from the annual Times Square shutdown for New Year's Eve. They're leaning on their experience of shutting down the Champs Elysees for the Tour de France, which offered Deal, who witnessed it firsthand last year, reassurance.
'It's going to be a well-orchestrated symphony that day,' she insists.
'They understand it's going to take a large undertaking, but it's a balance of security. They're finding that sweet spot right now.
'We're in the stages of crossing the Ts and dotting the Is and finessing the plan, but it takes a lot of work.'
Preparations took a hit last week when an opening ceremony test was postponed after heavy rain increased the flow of the River Seine.
The technical test for the boats that will take the athletes on the six-kilometer parade was due to take place on May 27, but was postponed following recent heavy rainfall.
'The flow of the Seine is too high. We are trying to get as close as possible to the actual conditions of the 26th of July,' Pierre Rabadan, deputy mayor for sports, told Reuters.
A new date has yet to be set, but the dress rehearsal of the opening ceremony is still scheduled for June 17.
In March, Paris 2024 organizers nearly halved the
