In France, the Paris Olympic Games are approaching. This Monday morning, a new rehearsal for the opening ceremony took place on the Seine, with 55 boats for an almost life-size test.
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This rehearsal for the opening ceremony of Olympic Games of Paris 2024, between the Pont d’Austerlitz and the Pont d’Iena – a distance of 6 kilometers, identical to that which will have to be covered on D-Day – was initially scheduled to take place at the beginning of April. But it was postponed twice due to the excessive flow of the river due to the multiple bad weather conditions that marred the Ile-de-France spring. A first rehearsal also took place on July 17, 2023, this time with around forty boats.
45′ clock
During the first workout, “we were clearly a few minutes late », recalled Thierry Reboul, the director of ceremonies of the organizing committee, during a press briefing. “ We learned from it, we continue to train and today, we are very satisfied with the timing and the way in which the timing was respected. We are almost for all the boats, for each boat, to the nearest second, we are very happy “, he assured. The boats should take 45 minutes to complete their journey. Fifty-five boats therefore set off from the Austerlitz bridge around 6:30 a.m. Monday morning, the circulation of the Seine having been interrupted at 4:30 a.m. for this test.
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On June 24, a test of the same nature is scheduled, but this time with all 89 boats. One of the big questions concerns the flow of the Seine, which increases with precipitation and makes navigation more difficult. “ The flow of the river has decreased quite significantly and quite quickly. We are certainly still on a significant flow rate, but we are starting to be much closer to the conditions which are those usually observed in July », explained Thierry Reboul.
The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics is to be held on the evening of July 26 along six kilometers of the Seine, in a new format on which the State, the organizers and the IOC are banking heavily.
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