Summer Games - Olympia-Fever and dampened worries: Paris before the start
For Emmanuel Macron, it's nothing less than "a deal with history." A few days before the opening of the Summer Games in Paris, France's President is feeling the Olympic fever. More and more athletes and athlettes are checking into their rooms in the Olympic village, and only minor work remains at the competition venues. "Everything is ready, excitement is growing," said Organising Chief Tony Estanguet.
The three-time Canoeing Olympic Champion estimates the costs for the third Summer Games in Paris since 1900 and 1924 to be around 4.5 billion Euros. It's all privately financed, not from tax revenues, Estanguet assured.
Paris is electrifying the President of the German Olympic Sports Federation just before his departure for the host city on Tuesday. "Paris is nearby, we'll have many German fans there. That's also positive in terms of possibly applying again," said DOSB Chief Thomas Weikert on ZDF-"Sportstudio".
The DOSB plans extravagant medal parties in a German House, which this time includes a fan zone for 3,000 spectators in a Rugby stadium. Weikert aims to inspire the often skeptical German public for a German Olympic bid with this, as the 62-year-old emphasized. But for that, there will also need to be sporting successes, as there were only 37 medals in 2021 in Tokyo, the weakest output since reunification.
German Team
"The goal is certainly at least the result we achieved at the last games," says the rather cautious target of Weikert. Among the top ten nations in the medal standings, we should go again. The latest projections of the umbrella organization also show this, Weikert says.
427 German athletes and athletes will start in Paris, 211 women and 216 men. For 255 of them, it's an Olympic debut. The greatest gold hopes besides the riders and canoeists also come from Long Jumper Malaika Mihambo, Decathlete Leo Neugebauer, and Swimmer Florian Wellbrock.
Security
The police patrol at the arrival of Olympic guests in Paris at the station, and military forces are everywhere in sight. Their presence before the start of the games has been significantly increased - in addition, up to 20,000 private security forces are present.
From the perspective of the commercial minister, there is currently no reason for concern. "As far as we know, there is no specific threat to the security of the Olympic Games," said Gerald Darmanin to "Le Journal du Dimanche". The intelligence services have not yet detected any imminent danger. The opening ceremony can also take place as planned on the Seine. Organizing Chief Estanguet also confirmed that security is the "Priority Number 1".
Tickets
The opening and closing ceremonies, several evening events in Athletics - according to the organizers, there are still free places in more than 20 sports. In total, around 8.8 million tickets have been sold - a six-figure amount is still available. Consumer protection warns urgently against buying tickets in Paris from individuals. Tickets should only be purchased on the official Olympic sales website or on the official resale website.
Corona
The concern about Corona persisted until the end of the Tour de France. Several cycling professionals had to abandon the race prematurely due to an infection, and the organizers had introduced a mask requirement in certain areas. The Olympic organizers are currently relying on no special measures.
Normal recommendations would apply, such as regularly washing hands, OK-CEO Estanguet stated with reference to French health authorities and decreasing Corona numbers in the country. There's no reason to intensify measures at the moment. The Olympics in 2021 in Tokyo and 2022 in Beijing were held with strict regulations and mostly without spectators due to the pandemic.
Doping Scandal
The controversy over positive doping tests for 23 Chinese top swimmers continues. "We're doing everything possible to clarify the situation. It's important for the protection of the athletes," DOSB President Weikert told ZDF.
In April, it was reported that 23 Chinese female swimmers and male swimmers had tested positive for Trimetazidine at a national swimming competition in China in early 2021. The Chinese Anti-Doping Agency ChinaADA attributed the positive tests to contamination in a hotel kitchen and waived suspensions.
The World Anti-Doping Agency WADA followed this assessment. Despite strong criticism from the USA, an independent investigator from Switzerland found no wrongdoing on the part of WADA. "A little annoyed" is also the German sport, Weikert confirmed. Bundestrainer Bernd Berkhahn is already preparing for protests in the swimming pool.
- Emmanuel Macron views the upcoming Summer Games in Paris as a "deal with history."
- The DOSB Chief, Thomas Weikert, is excited about the Summer Game in Paris, as it's close and could potentially lead to a future German bid.
- ZDF-"Sportstudio" interviews Thomas Weikert before his departure to the host city for the Summer Games.
- The German Olympic Sports Federation plans extravagant medal parties in a German House during the Summer Games.
- German athletes and athletes, such as Malaika Mihambo in Long Jump and Florian Wellbrock in Swimming, have high gold medal hopes for the Summer Games.
- The police and military forces have increased their presence before the start of the Summer Games in Paris for enhanced security.
- The International Olympic Committee has reported no specific threats to the security of the Summer Games in Paris, and the opening ceremony can proceed as planned.
- The DOSB President, Thomas Weikert, is carefully optimistic about the German team's performance in the Summer Games, aiming for at least the same result as the last games in Tokyo.
