Paris, April 18, 2024, Socrates George Kazolias

French authorities are having second thoughts on their ambitious plan to hold the Olympic opening ceremony on the river Seine. “There are Plans B and C which we are preparing in parallel,” the French president, Emanuel Macron, said on April 15. Macron said he was working for an “Olympic truce” for Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan… and that he would “ask” Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to help achieve it.

From the beginning, those in charge of Olympic security have been hostile to the idea of an opening ceremony, originally planned with over 200 boats sailing six kilometers down the Seine while more than 600,000 people stand along the quays watching the athletes and the artists.