PARIS: Despite the grand ambition of the Paris Olympics, the Games were fraught with danger and difficult to police, but French security forces kept thousands of athletes and millions of fans safe – a performance Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin described as worthy of a “gold medal.”
The two-week sports festival, which ended on Sunday, has led to a security operation unprecedented in modern French history, with some 75,000 police, soldiers and private security guards mobilised for the opening night on July 26.
There have been incidents over the past two weeks – an attack on French railways, a pitch invader at the men's 100m final – but nothing that could have spoiled the overall event, much to the relief of organisers.
“These Olympic Games involve great French medals and a great gold medal for the interior ministry and the security forces,” Darmanin said last week while visiting officers on duty in Marseille in southern France.
The self-congratulatory tone and sense of satisfaction in his remarks reflected the enormous pressures and doubts raised in the run-up to the Games about whether France's already limited resources were up to the task.
Their first test was securing the Olympic torch's route, a journey through 450 French cities and towns as well as the overseas territories.
Then came the unexpected parliamentary elections in July, followed by the unprecedented opening ceremony along a six-kilometre (four-mile) stretch of the Seine, which has been giving planners sleepless nights since its unveiling in 2021.
Police officers stand guard on the Seine River before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics on July 26, 2024, in Paris. (AP)
In the end, the 300,000 spectators who watched the match from the riverside faced nothing but torrential rain, while the streets of the capital were flooded with uniformed officers.
“For those of us who have been here on the ground, we’ve seen the security footprint here,” said Nicole Deal, head of security for Team USA, on the day of the ceremony. “It’s impressive. I’ve never seen anything like this at any other Games.”
The two-week tournament saw huge crowds, with 743,000 people attending the stadiums on one day on July 30.
Other events from triathlons to marathons were held on the streets of the capital.
About a million people lined the route for the men's and women's cycling races on August 3 and 4.
“Without a doubt, the French security services deserve the gold medal,” French criminologist and university professor Alain Bauer, an outspoken critic of the open-air opening ceremony, told AFP.
He said this was due to “exceptional investment” and “fundamental changes” that had prompted organisers to significantly reduce the size of the audience at the opening ceremony under pressure from the Interior Ministry.
After its exclusion from the Games, French officials said Russia was plotting to destabilize it, with France's cybersecurity agency on high alert for attacks that could disrupt the organising committee, ticket sales or transport.
The arrest of a 40-year-old man suspected of being a member of the Russian intelligence services on the eve of the Olympics has sparked tension.
The war in Gaza, threats from ISIS, and France's history of homegrown Islamist terror plots and right-wing extremism have also raised concerns about the possibility of an attack that would destroy the party.
But not everyone found the security operation a cause for celebration.
Charities have loudly complained about police crackdowns on the homeless, sex workers and migrants ahead of the Games, while anti-Olympic protest groups say they have been prevented from exercising their democratic rights.
Police arrested about 45 activists from the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion the day after the opening ceremony as they prepared to occupy a bridge over the River Seine in central Paris.
The SACAJ 2024 group, which has been organising so-called “toxic tours” to highlight the negative aspects of the Games, said it was banned from guiding a group of about 20 people to sites in northern Paris last week.
About 30 riot police and four police cars blocked the tour and three members of the group were taken to a local police station for questioning.
“None of the people arrested were charged at the end of their police custody, which is further evidence that this was in fact an attempt at intimidation,” the group wrote on Instagram.