PARIS OPENING CEREMONY ESTIMATE OF ATTENDEES DROPS DOWN TO 300,000

Reuters 

 The number of people estimated to be attending the opening ceremony of this year's Olympics has been reviewed and fell down to about 300,000, French Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said on Wednesday.

The opening ceremony will be a six kilometre parade along the River Seine on July 26, amid security concern as France is on high terrorism alert.

"The idea is that there will be 100,000 people on the lower quays (with paying tickets) and more than 220,000 people on the upper quays (with free tickets)," Darmanin told French TV channel France 2.

"Then there are all those who live there and who will be able to rent, have parties along the Seine."

The last time Darmanin made an estimate on the number of attendees was in May 2023, when he said up to 600,000 were expected at the opening ceremony.

- Reuters 

FRENCH POLICE TO BE ON HIGH ALERT FOR TORCH RELAY

 

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. Reuters

French police will be on high alert for threats along the route of the 2024 Olympic torch relay, the interior minister said on Monday, with torchbearers protected by about 100 officers in a security bubble and anti-drone measures in place.

The Olympic flame will arrive in Marseille from Greece on May 8, with up to 150,000 people expected to attend the ceremony in the southern city's Old Port before the French leg of the relay begins.

Speaking at a press conference, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the "terrorist and protest threat" to the relay was significant, citing "far left environmental activists" or "radical Islamists" as potential sources of such threats.

"The relay of the torch is subject to a lot of media attention and the ministry is giving it a special attention as it could be the target of malicious acts," he said.

"We did a background check on all 11,000 torchbearers and the 1,000 replacements, and it led to 13 being left out of the relay."