The tone may have surprised you. Words even more. The sixth and penultimate meeting of the coordination commission for the Paris 2024 Games ended, Wednesday June 7 in Saint-Denis, with a press conference where it seemed to the media present that they were embarking on a trip in time.
415 days before the opening of the Olympic Games, Pierre-Olivier Beckers, the president of the commission, spoke as if the event was not yet coming, but had just ended. He addressed his Congratulations " and those of the IOC to Tony Estanguet and his team. He spoke of the Paris 2024 Games as an edition “ of a new era, an inflection point for the modern Games, a new model of the Games, inclusive, sustainable and united”. He said he was convinced, and the Olympic body with him, that there would be a “ before and after Paris 2024. » Don’t throw any more away.
Excessive ? For an event whose first test events haven’t happened yet, certainly. But it must be believed that the two and a half days spent at the OCOG headquarters and on an inspection visit to two competition sites – the future Olympic Aquatics Center (photo above) and Roland-Garros – convinced the IOC delegation that the Parisian team was right.
Pierre-Olivier Beckers opened the press conference by ensuring he left with “ a very high level of confidence. » Then he swore to his great gods that never, ever, had the IOC found itself in the very comfortable situation of not having “ no concerns” regarding the construction of the sites. The day before, the Belgian leader had opened the visit by recalling that the COJO had “ still a lot of work to do”. He had warned that the work would remain “ tense to the end”, particularly on the question of budget control.
The budget, precisely. Pierre-Olivier Beckers did not even lower his praise of the Parisian organizers by a half-tone when raising the issue. He reminded the media that revenues were growing. He mentioned that 15 new partners had been onboarded since the start of the year. Finally, he predicted that the OCOG should achieve without too much anxiety the announced objective of having garnered 92% of its sponsorship revenue by the end of 2023.
Everything would therefore be fine in an Olympic world freed from its clouds if a gray area did not persist: the arrival announced for months, but always postponed, of a new premium partner, the first level of the program national marketing. The COJO has five (BPCE, Carrefour, EDF, Orange, Sanofi). A sixth wouldn't hurt him.
To a question of FrancsJeux, Tony Estanguet confirmed: discussions are still ongoing with the luxury group LVMH. There is nothing new about this. But the president of the COJO was very precise and loquacious. “ We want to promote French companies, particularly those with internationally recognized know-how., he explained. We believe that the values of the LVMH group – creativity, audacity – would help to strengthen the Paris 2024 project. Such a partnership would bring it a different dimension. We work. But it takes time. You have to be careful, nothing is signed. »
In the process, Tony Estanguet confided that Bernard Arnault's group was the only potential first-tier partner likely to join the adventure, just over 400 days before the opening ceremony. “ There are no other companies that could become premium partners.", he admitted. In short, LVMH or nothing. At least for the highest level of the pyramid.
