PARIS: The ambitions of the Paris Olympic showjumping games have made them risky and difficult to police, but the way French security forces have kept thousands of athletes and millions of fans safe is a “gold medal”, according to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.
The two-week sporting extravaganza, which ended on Sunday, saw a security operation unprecedented in France's recent history, with around 75,000 police, soldiers and private guards mobilized on the July 26 opening night.
There have been incidents over the past two weeks — an attack on a French railway, an attack on the men's 100m final — but nothing that has overshadowed the event as a whole, much to the organizers' satisfaction.
“These Olympics include both great French medals and a big gold medal for the interior ministry and the security forces,” Darmanin said last week while visiting officers on duty in Marseille, southern France.
The sense of satisfaction and congratulatory tone of his remarks reflected the enormous pressure and doubts in the run-up to the Games about whether France's already limited resources would be up to the task.
Their first challenge was securing the Olympic flame relay, traveling through 450 French towns and cities as well as overseas territories.
Then came a surprise parliamentary election in July, followed by an unprecedented opening ceremony along the six-kilometre (four-mile) stretch of the Seine River, which has given planners sleepless nights since its opening in 2021.
Police officers guard the Seine River before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics on July 26, 2024 in Paris. (AP)
In the end, the 300,000 ticketed spectators watching from the banks of the river were undisturbed only by the pouring rain, and the streets of the capital were filled with uniformed officers.
“For those of us who have been here, we have seen a trail of safety here. It's impressive,” Nicole Diehl, head of security for Team USA, said on the day of the ceremony. “I've never seen (one) like it at any other Games.”
During the two weeks of competition, the stadiums were packed, with 743,000 people visiting the sports grounds in one day on 30 July.
Other events took place on the streets of the capital – from a triathlon to a marathon.
About a million people took to the route of men's and women's road cycling races on August 3-4.
“Without a doubt, the French security services deserve a gold medal,” French criminologist and university professor Alain Bauer, a critic of the open-air opening ceremony format, told AFP.
He said it was due to “extraordinary investment” and “significant changes” which saw organizers significantly reduce the opening ceremony crowd under pressure from the Home Office.
French officials said Russia had been banned from the Games and planned to destabilize them, and France's cyber security agency was on high alert for attacks that could disrupt the organizing committee, ticket sales or transport.
The arrest of a 40-year-old suspected employee of the Russian special services on the eve of the Games strained nerves.
The war in Gaza, threats from the Daesh group and France's history with home-grown Islamist terror plots and far-right extremism have also raised concerns about the possibility of an attack that would destroy the party.
However, not everyone found something to celebrate this protective operation.
Charities have been vocal in the run-up to the Games about police repression of the homeless, sex workers and migrants, while anti-Olympic protest groups say they have been 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 prepared to occupy a bridge over the Seine River in central Paris.
The Saccage 2024 group, which runs so-called “Toxic Tours” that highlight the flaws of the Games, said last week it was denied permission to take a group of around 20 people to sites in northern Paris.
About 30 riot police fighters and four police cars prevented the excursion, and three members of the group were taken to the local police station for questioning.
“None of those arrested faced any charges at the end of the arrest, further proof that this was actually an attempt at intimidation,” the group wrote on Instagram.
