Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Now, there are just 79 days to go until the Olympics open in Paris, and one of the big
00:05questions still seems to be, is France ready for them?
00:09We're going to talk more about that now with Dikaia Hatsieff-Shatzou.
00:13You are an Olympic expert and the author of the book Discourses of Olympism from the Sorbonne
00:181894 to London 2012.
00:21Thank you for joining us.
00:22What do you think?
00:23Is France now prepared for the 24 Olympic Games?
00:27Well, I think, yes, I think France is ready.
00:32And I have to say that a few months, a few weeks usually before the Olympics, there is
00:36no whole city that feels 100 percent ready.
00:40There is always a fear, a bit of insecurity if something goes wrong.
00:45It's a major event, and that's absolutely normal.
00:48But I think France is ready indeed.
00:50So you were very involved in the London 2012 Olympics.
00:54How would you say what you're seeing now in the preparations for Paris compared to
00:57those games?
00:58Well, there are a few differences in terms like, of course, this was more than 10 years
01:03ago in London, and they had some kind of problems with G4S, the security company.
01:10Just a few weeks before the Games, the G4S said, we're not ready to give you the task
01:16force that we had promised.
01:18So you can imagine that this kind of element can happen.
01:22But I think, you know, we were good back then, and it's good now as well in terms of
01:28Paris.
01:29We shouldn't forget there are a lot of challenges that are happening right now in the world,
01:34like the war in the Middle East, the war in Russia.
01:38But I think we need to focus that there is a big party on our doorstep.
01:44It's the third time that Paris is having the Games, inspired by Baron Pierre de Coubertin,
01:49a Frenchman.
01:51So I think we should make sure that we do listen to that vibe.
01:54And what we heard Daniela before, and so excited, you know, people are really anticipating this
02:00big party.
02:01But yes, there are challenges, but I think everybody is ready for them.
02:05Well, let's talk about some of those challenges.
02:08What's the biggest one for you?
02:10Security?
02:11Crowd control?
02:12Yeah, I think it is the first time that the opening ceremony is going to take place in
02:17the city.
02:18That is a big...
02:20It is brave to do, absolutely, in terms of logistics, not only in terms of security.
02:25But I think the security task force is ready, is there, there are a lot of security private
02:33companies that have been hired as well.
02:35But yes, security as part of the tours relay as well, and also as part of the opening ceremony.
02:40And if we want to compare it with London, we need to think that London 2012, there were
02:4480,000 people in the opening ceremony within the stadium.
02:48So that was the crowd control you had there.
02:50Now we're talking about around 600,000 people, which has been scaled down from 1 million
02:56that it was the initial plan.
02:57So yes, security and in the tours relay.
03:00And I need to emphasize something that the tours relay used to be international, was
03:04going around the different countries of the world.
03:07But after Tokyo, and all the challenges with issues of human rights and security and budget,
03:14it has been cut down to be in Greece and then in the host country.
03:18So we shouldn't forget that this has already been in place since Tokyo, sorry, sorry, since
03:23Beijing.
03:24Apologies, since Beijing.
03:25And what about the opening ceremony itself?
03:27I mean, for the moment, it is planned to be open air on the Seine River in the heart of
03:32Paris.
03:33There is a plan B, which President Macron has mentioned about it being in a stadium.
03:37What are your thoughts?
03:38I mean, do you think that it will actually be held on the Seine?
03:41Well, I want to hope that it will, because it's going to make a history.
03:46You know, it's the first time in the history of the Olympics.
03:49But as I said, and I mentioned this example with G4S, with London, you really don't know
03:54what can happen.
03:55The good thing is that there is a contingency plan B and C, which is part of the budget.
04:02So if something is not safe for the people, I'm sure that the different plans, the contingency
04:09plans will come into place.
04:12But I also want to mention a few other challenges, possible challenges, that is not related to
04:16the security.
04:17Like, for example, transport.
04:19People in Paris, I have a lot of colleagues and friends who live in Paris, there is a
04:23worry whether the metro is going to be adequate services for the influx of people.
04:31In terms of the unions, like strikes, there are threats for strikes, internal affairs
04:37and problems and challenges there.
04:39But again, I think that there will be a lot of discussions and a lot of negotiations.
04:47And I don't see strikes happening during the Olympics.
04:52I don't know if you want to ask me anything else.
04:54Yeah, Adika, you won the first ever Coubertin Prize.
04:58That was in 2008 for your research on Pierre de Coubertin's writings, his speeches.
05:02Now, just to remind everyone, he, of course, is a Frenchman, the father of the modern Olympics
05:06that we know today.
05:07He's actually in charge of the last games that were held in Paris exactly 100 years
05:12ago.
05:13How have the games changed since then?
05:15And what would Coubertin think about these games one century on?
05:19Yes, I think the games have changed.
05:22It would be, it's only natural that the games are changing over the years.
05:27We're talking about even from 2012 to today, things have changed.
05:32So imagine from the time of Coubertin in 1894, 1896, and 1900, when it was the very
05:39first Paris Games.
05:41So things have changed.
05:42The values of the games have moved on.
05:44Although we may think that amateurism is a good value for the Olympics, it's not as great
05:50in terms of value because it was associated with aristocracy, with the muscular Christianity.
05:56It was very much kind of a logistic value.
05:59And now they have been more democratized.
06:02We do have a gender representation.
06:05Things have moved on to the better.
06:07And of course, Coubertin would have been excited that that would be the third Olympic Games
06:13in Paris.
06:14This is amazing.
06:15And the fact that it's not just about Paris, but is involving other cities.
06:19I find it fantastic that the BELM is going to Marseille and is having a different entry
06:25point than Paris.
06:27It kind of leverages the excitement, enthusiasm of the people for the Olympic spirit and the
06:32Olympic values.
06:33So, yes, things have changed, but a lot of things have changed to the better.
06:36I'm not a romantic of the past.
06:38I like to be a pragmatist of what's happening in real life today.
06:43And some of the values of the older games, they were not great.
06:47So we had to move on.
06:48We had to embrace sustainability.
06:50We had to embrace gender diversity and inclusion and equity-deserving groups, that it wasn't
06:56part of an imperialistic kind of agenda in the past.
07:00So I think things are moving to the right direction.
07:03OK, Dikei, thank you so much.
07:05It's great to talk to you.
07:06That's Olympic expert Dikei Hatsiafatsou.
07:09Thank you very much.