Paris officials "have insisted" that the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics will “take place on the River Seine and there are no ‘Plan B’ alternatives.” However, they have “conceded that the event could be scaled down depending on security risks” as “questions have been raised” about feasibility amid heightened security risks. Speaking at a press briefing in Paris on Friday, 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Deputy Mayor of Sport Pierre Rabadan “confirmed that while the ceremony could be adapted, it would not be relocated.” Rabadan: “We have the possibility to reduce the impact and the facilities of the opening ceremony if the international risk becomes harder. We can reduce it, the show, the number of people. But there is no Plan B.” Paris is “aiming to host the cleanest Olympic Games in history” and with that ambition, they plan to “clean up the River Seine,” which will host events such as triathlon and open water swimming. More than $1B “has been spent on cleaning the river” in the build-up to the Games (THE ATHLETIC, 4/5).
