PARIS: The sheer ambition of the Paris Olympics made it difficult to monitor and police, but French security forces kept thousands of athletes and millions of fans safe in what Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin called a “gold medal” achievement.
The two-week sporting event, which ended on Sunday, was preceded by a security operation unprecedented in recent French history, with some 75,000 police, military and private security guards mobilised for the opening day on July 26.
Despite incidents in the past two weeks, including an attack on a French railway station and an intruder in the men's 100m final, organisers are generally relieved that there have been no incidents that have threatened to cause major damage to the event.
“These Olympics will include great medals for France, great gold medals for the Interior Ministry and the security forces,” Darmanin said last week during a visit to police officers working in Marseille, southern France.
The smug, self-congratulatory tone of his remarks reflects the immense pressure and doubts that have arisen in the run-up to the Olympics about whether France, with its already stretched resources, can handle the task.
Their first test was to secure an Olympic torch relay through 450 French towns, cities and overseas territories.
Then came unexpected parliamentary elections in July and an unprecedented opening ceremony for a 6km stretch of the Seine that has kept planners up at night since it was unveiled in 2021.
Police officers guard the Seine River ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AP)
In the end, the 300,000 spectators who had purchased tickets to watch the game on the riverbank were left to suffer through the torrential rain, while the streets of the capital were filled with uniformed police officers.
“Some of us who were there saw the security footprint here. It’s impressive,” Team USA security chief Nicole Deal said the day of the event. “I’ve never seen anything like it at any other game.”
The competition lasted two weeks, with 743,000 people attending sports stadiums on a single day, July 30.
Events ranging from triathlons to marathons took place on the streets of the capital.
About 1 million people took part in the men's and women's road cycling races held on August 3-4.
“Without a doubt, the French security services deserve the gold medal,” French criminologist and university professor Alain Bauer, a vocal critic of the outdoor opening ceremony format, told AFP.
He said organisers had reduced the size of the opening ceremony crowd significantly under pressure from the Interior Ministry thanks to “exceptional investment” and “essential changes”.
French officials have said Russia was plotting to destabilise France after being banned from the Olympics, and the country's cybersecurity agency is on high alert for attacks that could disrupt organising committees, ticket sales and transport.
Tensions were high on the eve of the Olympics after a 40-year-old man suspected of being part of a Russian intelligence service was arrested.
The war in Gaza, the threat from Daesh, and France's history of domestic Islamist terror plots and far-right extremism have raised fears of an attack that could destroy the party.
But not everyone thinks the security operation is something to celebrate.
Charities have complained loudly about police brutality against the homeless, sex workers and migrants in the run-up to the Olympics, while anti-Olympic protest groups say they are being prevented from exercising their democratic rights.
About 45 activists from the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion were detained by police the day after the opening ceremony as they attempted to occupy a bridge over the Seine River in central Paris.
The group “Sakaji 2024”, which has been running so-called “toxic tours” highlighting the negative aspects of the Olympics, said last week that it was blocking a group of about 20 people from taking them to attractions north of Paris.
About 30 riot police and four police vehicles disrupted the tour, and three members of the group were taken to a local police station for questioning.
“None of those arrested were charged until after they were in police custody, which further proves that this was indeed an attempted intimidation,” the group wrote on Instagram.
