Paris 2024: 'Games wide open' set to kick off with 'ambitious, historic, spectacular' ceremony
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00:00Now there are just so many sports to squeeze into the Olympic Games that they even get going before the opening ceremony today
00:07Those first events football and rugby seven group games getting underway in the men's sevens France faced the u.s.
00:14This afternoon here France's men did not take part in the sevens four years ago
00:18Although the women were silver medalists then later tonight a French men's football team coached by Thierry Henry take on the u.s.
00:26In their opening group game in Marseille
00:31So is France ready? We're joining us now is Dick Hyatt Hatsifatsou
00:35She's a professor of applied Olympic studies and author of the book
00:39Discourses of Olympism. Thanks very much for joining us on the program. So what do you think then is
00:44France ready. There's always a last-minute panic or problem. Isn't there notably around security perhaps?
00:51Yes
00:52Hello. Thanks for inviting me again. Well, I would say yes
00:56I think last time we spoke we said that everything can happen
01:00There is always a little bit of a last-minute panic now
01:03We're only two days away and I would say that security remains priority for the organizers
01:10That is government and private companies will be using AI tools and other surveyors
01:15technologies to make sure that there is security for everybody and I would say that
01:22The it is worth larger security operations outside of work that that is how it has been described
01:28There are of course a few challenges I would say
01:31with AI
01:33artificial intelligence
01:35ahead of the
01:372024 Olympic Games the French government approved article 7 that has raised a lot of controversies in terms of
01:44Issues of human rights, especially it really triggers human rights challenges crisis and controversies
01:51Yeah, how is AI actually being used?
01:54Yes, well, we can say that the AI has been used in different ways
02:00Some have been more controversial than others
02:02One is about this article 7 that actually the AI for surveillance of the citizens will remain
02:09In effect a few months after about I think about seven months after the Olympics
02:17So this has created some kind of controversies
02:20however, we also need to see the positives of the AI use and
02:25we should definitely look into the Olympic AI agenda that was launched earlier in the year and
02:33just yesterday in the
02:36142nd IOC session of
02:38the Olympic Committee
02:39They actually discussed the updates and we can see that over 180 potential cases that they can be used
02:47So this is the very first time that we will see AI to be used
02:52To detect any online abuse of athletes also for analyzing sporting performance
02:58But also for the fairness and accuracy of judging so this is this is quite unique and fair
03:04So I think there are a lot of great things about the AI and of course about security detecting some
03:11Objects in the crowd unusual kind of movement. So yes, it's always like a kind of a cost and benefit situation here
03:19There's been so much talking in Paris about the opening ceremony and so much of it shrouded still in mystery
03:25I mean, we know it's going to be very different on the Seine River right in the middle of Paris
03:30But who's gonna light the flame is Salih and Dion gonna sing so many questions still remaining unanswered
03:37They've done a pretty good job, haven't they about keeping keeping it all under wraps. It's amazing
03:41I can briefly say here that I took part in the London 2012 Olympic Games ceremony
03:47As part of one of the dancers actually I was part of the volunteers and when I was there
03:52Although I was there every day for the rehearsals. We had no idea what is gonna be in the ceremony
03:57So it's the same that these secrets are really kept so tightly
04:01But what we know is that the the ceremony is gonna is ambitious. It's historic. It's spectacular
04:08It makes the first opening ceremony where most spectators will not pay an admission fee
04:13And this is about games wide open slogan. So about
04:18222,000 tickets will be available for free. So this is quite an interesting one. Really. I am personally really looking forward to it
04:26We hope so we hope so lots of changes in the sport as well, I mean they're notably
04:31Changing some of those different events to try and make it more attractive to younger people
04:38yes, we have the the new sport of breakdancing or often called breaking and
04:45We can say that this is a technique a strategy of the International Olympic Committee to tackle the aging
04:53Demographics of Olympic viewers. This is a concern of the Olympic Committee. We can see that 2008 the US
05:00median average age was
05:0347 years old then in London was 48 then in Rio was 53
05:08So then we can and also we can see that between London and Rio there was a drop of 30%
05:13Between of viewers between the ages of 18 and 34
05:17So as part of this strategy, the Olympic Committee has launched the Youth Olympic Games has also launched the Olympic Internet TV channel and has introduced
05:26Some action sports and some youth focus action sports. We can say that breakdancing is not an action sport, but it's definitely a youth focus sport and
05:35Some of the summer events that we have seen recently is when surfing mountain biking
05:41Bicycle motocross and in winter Olympics, no boarding scared cross
05:46So breaking is really interesting many consider is a dance. So how it's gonna be a competitive dance
05:52And I'm sure that is gonna really bring down the aging demographics of the Olympics
05:57Yeah, looking forward to seeing the differences good to have you with us on the program today
06:00Thanks very much for joining a stick. I had to see if I had to professor of Applied Olympic Studies and author of the book
06:08Discourses of Olympism. Thanks very much
06:10You