Image: AP
By Prakhar Sachdeo
CNBC-TV18.com
Published June 17, 2024
Image: Reuters
For the rehearsal 55 boats made the journey from Pont d'Austerlitz to Pont d'Iéna, a stone's throw from the Eiffel Tower, the nation's most striking and best known landmark.
Image: AP
The rehearsal saw 10 police speedboats shadowing the convoy, as well as speedboats equipped with television cameras. There were armed police officers stationed at various points along the way. The boats crossed 16 bridges, passing by iconic landmarks such as the green-tinged Grand Palais.
Image: AP
On the day of Opening Ceremony around 200 Olympic delegations will join the parade on more than 80 boats. They will make the journey from east to west, along a 6km route.
Image: Reuters
Security concerns led French President Emmanuel Macron to say in mid-April that the ceremony could shift to Stade de France if the threat level was too high. But authorities are confident that the Opening Ceremony will be held as originally planned.
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There will be a final rehearsal, involving the full armada of boats, before the opening ceremony — one which is expected to bring 100 world leaders to the city's embankments, where more than 300,000 people will watch.
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The water itself has become a sensitive and thorny topic for the organizers and politicians heading into the July 26-Aug. 11 Paris Games. A whopping $1.5 billion investment has already been made to improve the Seine's water quality, with Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo both promising to take a dip.
Image: Reuters