The global computer outage does not seem to be slowing down the world in its quest for Paris. Twenty-four hours after the opening of the Olympic village, the international delegations continue their respective arrivals in the capital. Organizations from all over the world have already started to take over the Saint-Denis grounds. This morning at 11:54 a.m., track 8 of hall 1 of Gare du Nord welcomed the Belgian procession and its 66 field hockey players, who came to compete in the Olympic tournament of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games from Brussels.
Received by a horde of French and Belgian police officers, the athletes then joined the Parisian suburbs and the Olympic village under the aegis of the Belgian ambassador to France, Jo Indekeu. The delegation directors Rudy Lahor and Gert Van Looy, as well as the former canoe-kayak sprinter and current Belgian high performance manager Bob Maesen, were also waiting for them at the dock. Newcomers from flat country followed their 24 South African counterparts and possible future adversaries, who arrived the day before in the capital.
In Colombes where their events will take place, the men's team, Olympic gold medalist at the Tokyo Games in 2021, will face India, Ireland, New Zealand, Germany, Australia, the Great -Brittany and Argentina from July 27. Absent during the last two editions in Tokyo and London, the women's field hockey team is making its return to Olympic competition and will face Germany, the Netherlands, China, Japan and France.
Some delegations have chosen to come to Paris by train for these Olympic Games. Ewen Gavet/Icon Sport Later in the afternoon, the British and German delegations also appeared on the platforms of the Gare du Nord to continue to fill the Olympic village a little more, while awaiting the opening ceremony on July 26.
Paris more than ever the Olympic capital: in the aftermath of the swim in the Seine by the mayor, Anne Hidalgo, accompanied by the president of the Organizing Committee of the Games (Cojo), Tony Estanguet and the prefect of Ile-de-France, Marc Guillaume, the Olympic village located in the north of the City of Lights has officially opened its doors.
According to the organizers, the first delegations to arrive this morning have already taken possession of their accommodation, thus marking the start of the Olympic summer in Paris. The village, between Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen and the Island of Saint-Denis, which extends over 52 hectares, is called upon to host almost 14,500 people, including 9,000 athletes in the midst of the XXXIII Olympics.
Built over seven years, the village consists of 82 buildings, 3,000 apartments and 7,200 rooms. 'We are ready', assured the deputy director of the Village Augustin Tran Van Chau, interviewed by radio France Info a few minutes before the opening.
Among the first to arrive were the delegations from Thailand, Australia and Colombia. 'It's a special moment. It is the moment in which the village comes to life', with the arrival of the first athletes, declared the number 2 of the French delegation, André-Pierre Goubert, quoted by France Presse.
According to sources from the Olympic organisation, they should arrive today 'hundreds of people, certainly between one thousand and two thousand', including athletes and technical staff, as for the 'big nations, such as England, the United States, New Zealand, Brazil, Switzerland, are expected to arrive on the first day of the opening.'
The apartments are equipped with all comforts, except for the kitchen and air conditioning, amid the worries and controversies of many athletes worried about the risk of heat waves, which in reality Paris has currently escaped. In any case, to leave no doubt, the Americans brought air conditioners from home.
But inside the apartments, says Goubert, 'we have reverse geothermal energy (which guarantees 6 degrees lower than outside) and it works very well, I even had to add a cover'. As for food, athletes will have 24-hour access to a large restaurant set up in the nearby 'Cité du Cinéma', with six main culinary options (Italy, Asia, France...) for approximately 3,200 seats and 40,000 meals served daily basis.
A second restaurant is also available on Ile Saint-Denis as well as several 'food-trucks' which allow athletes to have a quicker alternative to the restaurant. At the end of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, in mid-September, the village will be reconfigured to accommodate residents and businesses.
Meanwhile, eight days before the opening ceremony scheduled on the banks of the Seine, the French cybersecurity agency says it 'confident' in the face of the risk of cyber attacks. The objective, explains the Anssi body, is 'to ensure that most of them fail and that we can react effectively to those that we will not be able to avoid to limit their impact.'
The Olympics are regularly the subject of attacks cyber and the technological director of Paris 2024, Bruno Marie-Rose, says he expects '8-10 times' more than in Tokyo. Meanwhile, along the banks of the Seine, the inconveniences for citizens are multiplying, between labyrinths of barriers and railings and limits on circulation in view of the ceremony of 26 July, while the peniche - the famous barges traditionally moored along the river that crosses Paris - they are removed by the police.
The Seine will welcome sporting delegations and cameras from all over the world for the inaugural ceremony scheduled for 7.30pm from the Pont d'Austerlitz, in the east of Paris, to the Trocadéro, in front of the Eiffel Tower, where the official grandstand will be located. It is the first time in the history of the Games that the opening ceremony is organized outside the perimeter of a stadium.
Meanwhile, in the French capital twinned with Rome, there is a smog alarm. Airparif, the body responsible for monitoring pollution, predicts 'bad air quality', with a high peak of Co2 for tomorrow. The day before yesterday, the Respire association warned about pollution levels near Parisian sports facilities, '95% of which' are exposed to emissions above WHO limits.
