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 

PARIS 2024 BANKS ON FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS TO MAKE RIVER SEINE SUITABLE FOR SWIMMING

Reuters 

The River Seine is already suitable for bathing two days out of three on average in the summer, but Paris is hoping to further improve the water quality as next year's Olympics loom.

The primary goal is to make the Seine batheable by 2025, and the Games served as a huge boost, even though some sporting events were cancelled last summer because the health standards were not met following rare heavy rains and a sewer problem.

"The amounts of rain we had had not been (seen) since the 1970s," Pauline Lavaud, the Paris mayor's advisor on energy and climate transition, water and maintenance of public spaces, told reporters.