The Olympics

'We are ready', Macron says as France gears up for Paris Olympics amid tight security

Author: Editors Desk Source: France 24

July 22, 2024 at 09:08

French President Emmanuel Macron meets athletes at the Olympic Village, July 22, 2024. © Michel Euler, AP

President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that France was ready to host the Paris Olympics as he visited the Athletes' Village four days before the Games begin. The opening ceremony on the River Seine will signal the official start of the Paris Games on Friday, July 26.

"We are ready and we will be ready throughout the Games," Macron said.

"We have been working on these Games for years now and we are at the start of a decisive week which on Friday will see the opening ceremony and then the Olympiad which will be held in Paris, 100 years since the last one."

He added: "This is the fruit of an immense amount of work which has profoundly changed the country, in particular the area" of Seine-Saint-Denis, where the Athletes' Village is situated.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach also visited the Village to the north of the French capital, where thousands of athletes and officials are arriving, with up to 14,500 expected there at the peak of the Games.