100 days. At the OCOG Paris 2024, the countdown table displays a round number this Wednesday, April 17. The last one has three units. Tomorrow, 99 days before the opening, the imminence of the event will be felt even more forcefully, especially for the oldest members of the house, who have been involved in the adventure for more than six years.
Tony Estanguet, its president, repeated it like a refrain to all his interlocutors last week in Birmingham during SportAccord: 100 days before the curtain rises, the COJO is exactly where it had planned to be. The three-time Olympic champion did not promise to “ break the codes »– fortunately he no longer does it -, but he once again announced the exceptional to an Olympic movement which would undoubtedly be content with simple normality, three years after Tokyo and the Olympics of the health crisis.
Tony Estanguet says the truth. At D – 100, Paris 2024 is on track. Its budget – 4,4 billion euros at the last count – has not experienced the excesses of previous editions. It has increased, certainly, but revenues have compensated, notably from ticket sales. Its catalog of private partners displays 78 names. The constructions are finished. The indicators are green. “ I feel a mixture of confidence and excitement, he admitted in front of a few journalists. And I'm proud of what we've accomplished so far."
However, the picture remains unclear. 100 days before the opening, the Paris 2024 Games are still causing more concern than impatience almost everywhere, particularly in France. And the COJO is struggling to reassure. At D – 100, the challenges remain significant. Three, above all, must be noted to remove the last doubts.
Clarify the speech. As the event approaches, the subject of Paris 2024 has never been so high-profile. An evidence. It has never been so shared either. Political leaders, brands, institutions… everyone is seizing it. It was expected. But the speech sorely lacks clarity. Emmanuel Macron's latest outing provided a new illustration of this, perhaps the most spectacular. Guest of BFM/RMC Monday April 15, on the eve of the lighting of the flame in Olympia, the head of state dampened the atmosphere by speaking endlessly about security. He mentioned the “ plans B and C» for the opening ceremony, explaining that the second of the two would see the setting of the first evening of the Games transposed to the Stade de France, an unlikely and certainly not realistic option. Questioned relentlessly by the media for months on the same subject, the COJO has never made such a speech. Tony Estanguet repeats it without sign of annoyance: “ We don't have a plan B, the ceremony will be held on the Seine. » Same dissonance on the Russian question, where the COJO remains in its role by highlighting the Olympic Charter and its principle of non-discrimination, while the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, insists almost everywhere that Russian athletes will not be the welcome to the Games, even under neutral status.
Talk about sports. 100 days before the opening, the time has certainly come for the COJO to remind everyone, especially the general public, that the Olympic Games are first and foremost a sporting event, perhaps the most beautiful and universal of all. An event where spectators will come, on the big day, first and foremost for the athletes. Tony Estanguet knows this better than anyone, having himself transported his paddles to four editions of the Games, between 2000 and 2012. But the communication of the organizing committee struggles to place the essential – the sport and the athletes – at the heart of the subject. Unlike Los Angeles 2028, where the storytelling is already oriented towards the main players in the event, Paris 2024 is still bogged down by questions of security, transport and budget, without offering an alternative more in line with the primary reason for the Olympic Games.
Selling the Paralympic Games. Tony Estanguet admitted this to SportAccord last week in Birmingham, in response to a question from FrancsJeux : the biggest challenge, three months and a handful of days before the opening, remains to better sell the Paralympic Games. “ We need to send a message to people, he explained. These Paralympic Games will be the first organized in France. We will have to push communication more. » To date, no less than 2 million tickets remain for sale. Sales are not taking off. Not yet. “ We believe a lot in the product, especially because the events will take place in the same venues as the Olympic Games”, insists the president of the COJO.
