PARIS (AP) 鈥 For the mayor of Paris, the city's journey to next year's Olympic Games included an epiphany born of brutality: the slaughter of 17 people by gunmen acting in the names of al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
Anne Hidalgo says the at a provocative satirical newspaper and a kosher Parisian supermarket were 鈥渢ruly fundamental" in steering her to the idea of bringing the Games back to the French capital for the first time . With the country outraged and hurting from the bloodshed, she saw the Olympics as an opportunity for France to rebound and heal.
鈥淲hat really scared me at that moment was to hear young people, , explain that the terrorists were heroes and that Charlie was guilty of having pushed freedom of expression too far,鈥 Hidalgo says, referring to Charlie Hebdo, the newspaper that the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.
鈥淚 said to myself that things were really, really, really bad, and that we absolutely had to find something that also provides perspective, momentum, to young people, to the country. And the Games can be this unifying moment.鈥
Rarely has that need been more pressing for France, a country that has lurched from crisis to crisis since 2017, when to host the Games. And seldom have the Olympics been as eagerly anticipated, coming after the global losses and separations caused by the , and against the backdrop of .
The picture-postcard city aims to use its charms to wow audiences, starting with an unprecedented on July 26, 2024.
But the context, in France and beyond, is tricky.
Rioting last month, triggered by the of a teenager in the Paris suburbs, laid bare divides that undercut the image of a confident, can-do France that Games organizers want to project.
Before those six nights of violence, there were also sustained this year against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms. Taken together, the unrest raised fears of more during the Games. Also concerning are by French anti-corruption police into of a small number of Olympic contracts.
Organizers insist they remain on track to deliver safe and Games that also aim to be greener than ever, in part by using existing or temporary venues instead of building new ones.
With projected spending of 8.8 billion euros ($9.7 billion), the Games should cost considerably less than splurge on the pandemic-delayed 2021 Olympics.
Paris also needs dice to roll its way.
Its Games will be reliant on crowded public transport networks and on transport workers not seizing the golden opportunity to strike for better conditions.
Using Paris monuments as outdoor venues will offer striking visuals. But athletes and spectators could suffer if France endures another of its .
And the planned opening ceremony for half a million spectators, most watching for free, along has eye-popping security needs.
鈥淭he image of France is at stake,鈥 chief Games organizer Tony Estanguet acknowledged in an exclusive
The Olympics have a lot riding on Paris, too.
With saying they would rather stay away than face competitors from aggressor Russia and its military ally Belarus, the International Olympic Committee鈥檚 ideal of sport as a vector for human togetherness is
Hidalgo is among Ukraine鈥檚 international supporters pushing for a ban on Russian athletes. But that would go against the grain for Thomas Bach, the IOC president whose fencing career was hurt by a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games after the Soviet Union鈥檚 invasion of Afghanistan. Bach could not defend his Olympic team title with West Germany.
The IOC president has sought to tiptoe through with a pathway that could see Russians and Belarusians qualify as neutral competitors.
But that could sour the mood in Paris.
鈥淲ere Paris to pretend that nothing is happening, lots of countries, lots of Europeans, have said they will boycott,鈥 Hidalgo warns. 鈥淭here is still one year to go. I really hope that Ukraine wins. I really hope the war will be behind us.鈥
For global TV audiences, the marriage of sports and Parisian landmarks promises compelling viewing: Beach volleyball played by the Eiffel Tower. Skateboarding, , BMX freestyle and three-on-three basketball unfolding at Place de la Concorde, where France鈥檚 last king, Louis XVI, was beheaded in 1793. Horse riding at the former royal palace in Versailles. The list goes on.
鈥淭hey will not be Games that we're used to seeing,鈥 Estanguet promised.
The first also mark the return of full-size crowds. Nearly 70% of the 10 million tickets flew off shelves in the two first rounds of sales.
鈥淜nowing that everyone from around the world is flocking to one place to watch sport, it will be so cool to have that back,鈥 says British rower , a two-time Olympic champion aiming for her fourth Summer Games.
Paris is also the test bed for a new IOC model of Olympic hosting.
After decades of in other host cities, which sank billions into venues that quickly , the Games now aim to adapt better to their hosts, and less the other way around. The only competition venues that Paris has purpose-built are an aquatics center and a climbing facility. Both are in disadvantaged northern outskirts that lack sports facilities.
The IOC hopes Paris鈥 experience will revive appetites in other cities to bid for future Olympics. , , Germany, and Budapest, Hungary, all dropped out when Paris was bidding, leaving the committee embarrassingly . Paris 2024. The other remaining bidder, Los Angeles, .
The 10,500 Olympians 鈥 for the first time evenly split between men and women 鈥 now have one year left to ready themselves for 18 days of competition.
And France has a year to conjure up a celebration that would complete its journey since 2015 and emphatically respond to the extremism that sought to silence Charlie Hebdo. Paris was also attacked again later that year with on the Bataclan concert hall and other sites that killed another 130 people.
鈥淔or us, the Games have been a way of looking ahead and also of sending a message, I think, to the whole world that, 鈥榊es, we were attacked. Yes, we suffered perhaps some of the cruelest things,鈥欌 says Deputy Mayor Pierre Rabadan, in charge of Olympic planning at City Hall.
鈥淏ut voil脿,鈥 he adds. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not giving up 鈥 not in our way of thinking, nor in the way that we are and nor in welcoming the world.鈥
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