The whole world is watching with great expectations as Paris 2024 will today offer the first ever opening ceremony that will take place outside of a stadium. As a result of such potentially risky exercise, a tight security apparatus is what France has put up in their attempt to wow the world.
The extravagant Opening Ceremony will take place through the landmark areas of the City of Paris. Yet tension concerning security is heightened by the general hightened geopolitical tensions, especially the Gaza War and that of Russia and Ukraine.
To this end about 45,000 police, 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 private security staff have been engaged to secure athletes who will parade along River Seine’s banks and surrounding monuments, especially the famous Eifel Tower.
No doubt, this is an unprecedented display of security.
According to reports gleaned from Reuters, a procession of barges will take nearly 7,000 athletes along the river past Paris’s most famous landmarks, while more than 300,000 spectators will watch from the banks.
Since the last Olympics, wars have erupted Ukraine and Gaza, providing a tense backdrop to the Games. France is at its highest level of security – though officials have repeatedly said there is no specific threat to the opening ceremony or the Games.
Reuters reports that as part of a vast security operation, authorities have turned to powers passed under an anti-terror law, placing 155 people under surveillance measures that strictly limit their movement, according to official data and a Reuters review of cases.
Meanwhile, Israeli competitors are being escorted by elite tactical units to and from events and given 24-hour protection throughout the Olympics, officials say.
Scores of world leaders will be in Paris for the opening ceremony, which will be protected by snipers on rooftops. The Seine’s riverbed has been swept for bombs, and Paris’ airspace will be closed.
For the Games more generally, radar-surveillance planes and Reaper drones will watch sensitive sites from above, and Mirage 2000 fighter jets will be on standby to intercept aircraft straying into restricted airspace.
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