PARIS (Reuters) – President Emmanuel Macron visited France’s National Institute of Sport and Performance (INSEP) on Tuesday, hoping to give a boost to the country’s athletes and insisting the organisation of the Paris 2024 Olympics needed to be flawless.
Macron took to the tatami to chat with members of France’s judo team, telling them how much he ‘relied on (them) in this Olympic year’.
“I count on you not only to bring medals, but to inspire the youth. Do your best,” he said.
“Are you ready?,” he then told the coaches. “Anyway, you’re under big pressure.”
Macron, who said France were able to finish in the “top five of the medals table”, then addressed a thousand of guests, among them some 500 athletes, to stress that France would be ready for the ‘unique opportunity’ that home Games are.
“We will pursue our efforts after 2024 as we also have to organise the 2030 (Winter) Games (in Nice), I give you my word it will be the case until the end of my term (in 2027),” he said.
The Paris 2024 Games will be held from July 26-Aug. 11 while the Paralympics will take place from Aug. 28-Sept. 8.
“Our organisation needs to be beyond reproach,” Macron said.
“In the last seven years we have been working on this project and you have always been rigorous and creative I know that you will succeed,” he told Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet.
“Out first challenge is security with the terrorist threat that is always there. I want to thank the law enforcement officers’ commitment.”
Up to 500,000 are expected to attend the opening ceremony on the banks and surroundings of the River Seine, with some 30,000 law enforcement officers on site to secure the event.
“The second challenge is the challenge of public transportation. It is a massive challenge. We will succeed. And the third challenge is that competition venues need to be accessible to the disabled,” added Macron, who also hailed the Paris Games as ‘the greenest ever’.
“We’ve been acting on it (accessibility) even if we need to look up to the more accessible cities (in the world). We’ve been late on this topic in France and we need to pursue or efforts to catch up.”
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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