Paris Olympics kick off amid fans' excitiment and logistic hassles
The first men’s football and rugby sevens matches were underway as fans began flocking to the French capital for the Olympic Games.
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00:00The Paris Olympics have officially started with the first games in football and rugby
00:08sevens on Wednesday.
00:12So how come some of these games are starting two days before the opening ceremony that's
00:17scheduled for Friday night?
00:19Well that's to ensure the athletes' resting time and also to ensure that all of the matches
00:25are played before August 11th when the closing ceremony is scheduled.
00:31And according to the rules, a minimum of three days rest must separate two matches involving
00:37the same team.
00:38There's excitement for the opening of the competitions, although some fans lament organization
00:44problems and hassles.
00:46Do you feel like these games have been well organized for the moment?
00:50Like the fluidity, public transport, I don't know how you got here.
00:53Yeah, the public transport is good, but then the stadium here is a bit messy, there's no
00:58fences and stuff like...
00:59I'm very lucky because for my 60th birthday this year, my whole family got together to
01:05have the goal of having one sporting event a day, one place, one different place.
01:10So every day I go to an event.
01:12Today I start with rugby sevens, tomorrow I do handball, and I do a lot of things.
01:18And then to see the games is something fabulous for me, it's a dream.
01:23We're just unhappy about doing touristy things and all the blockages that we encountered.
01:29We downloaded the app that said, you know, don't go here, don't go here, take this train
01:34instead of that.
01:35It's already a great moment to share, surely.
01:38Today, rugby sevens is a great example, full of matches, very fast, full of teams, full
01:42of nations.
01:43So it's always a joy to meet other countries.