The organization of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on the Seine is the “main plan” and “very probable”, assured, this Tuesday, April 16, the president of the organizing committee Tony Estanguet, the day after declarations of Emmanuel Macron discussing fallback solutions at the Trocadéro and the Stade de France.
“Today the really main and very probable plan is to organize this ceremony on the Seine,” Tony Estanguet declared on RFI, interviewed from Olympia in Greece a few hours before the traditional lighting ceremony of the Olympic flame .
“The President of the Republic was very clear yesterday, the main objective is to achieve a very beautiful, absolutely unique opening ceremony, the first time that it will be held outside a stadium, in the center of Paris on the Seine “, he said.
“I only know plan A”
“I am working on a plan A, I only know plan A, we must have confidence in the work that is done,” declared the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, interviewed in particular by BFMTV-RMC in Greece.
Monday morning, the President of the Republic tried to reassure that this ceremony would take place, while outlining for the first time “plans B and C” in the event of a terrorist threat. He had already assured that alternative scenarios were being considered. For the first time, he began to detail them, citing in particular the Stade de France, which had until now been excluded by the authorities.
For Cojo boss Tony Estanguet, “all energies and means are being deployed to make this very beautiful ceremony a success”. “At the same time, we are looking at all the contingency plans to adapt to the context, because it is our responsibility,” he added. “Depending on the state and the situation in which we find ourselves, we will adapt the project.”
The Stade de France hypothesis
The hypothesis of the Stade de France, which also hosts Olympic rugby events before the opening of the Olympic Games, would be a purely ceremonial ceremony, without the artistic dimension, to officially pronounce the opening of the Olympic Games, according to sources close to the matter. Even if this plan B took a hit, as L’Express explained, due to the holding of rugby sevens events the day before the ceremony.
The boss of Cojo also welcomed the lighting of the Olympic flame on Tuesday morning: “It’s a very important moment, it’s the beginning of this adventure.” The swimmer Laure Manaudou, who will succeed in Greece the very first torchbearer, the Greek rower Stefanos Ntouskos, will be the first French torchbearer of the Paris Olympics. The flame will arrive in France on May 8 in Marseille.