Paris is the undisputed star of the Olympics 2024. France aims to stage the most sustainable Games in history, while setting a new model for future editions. Can these ambitions be realised and at what cost? Monica Pinna went to Paris to shed light on the grey areas of this global sporting event.
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00:00The eyes of the world are on the Olympic capital and on France, which has been preparing for seven years to host the Olympics.
00:18Paris 2024 wants to amaze, it wants to go beyond the limits, but at what price?
00:23Mr. Macron, the Olympic Games are not going to happen as you want them to.
00:36The only thing the prefecture wants to do is expel all those we don't want to see during the Olympics.
00:40It's a disaster, it's almost every day, even before the Olympics.
00:45But is it worse?
00:46It's even worse.
00:48We sold the project a little bit to win the candidacy and we asked ourselves the security problems, logistics, the arrangements afterwards.
00:56I came to Paris to shed light on the shadow areas of this great sport festival.
01:02Paris is the uncontested star of the 2024 Olympics.
01:15France wants to stand out by launching the most eco-sustainable games in history.
01:20With the ambition to halve the emissions of carbon, the Ville Lumière has turned into an open-air construction site, surrounded by transcendent layers.
01:30There are those who talk about the low-cost version of a world show, but Paris 2024 wants to launch a new way of organizing the games.
01:37Will it succeed? And how?
01:40The particularity of this edition of the Olympics is that most of the competition sites are located in the city center.
01:48So, among the most iconic monuments of Paris.
01:51Why? To build less, to save money and also to pollute less.
02:0095% of the Olympic infrastructure is already existing or temporary.
02:06The Grand Palais hosts the El Taepondo, for example.
02:10Place de la Concorde has become a huge site for urban sports.
02:16The Seine is the protagonist of water sports and is the opening ceremony, a first outside a stadium.
02:25The use of already existing structures has allowed to contain costs of around 9 billion euros.
02:31They are the most economical games of the last decades.
02:34The city of Paris is convinced that the Olympics will leave a huge legacy.
02:39The games were, for the city, a very big accelerator.
02:43What we would have taken maybe 10 or 15 years to do, we managed to do it in 4 or 5 years.
02:49For example, the development of cycleways.
02:52After that, it allowed us to transform some neighborhoods.
02:57The legacy of the Olympics can be bitter.
03:00Athens is still paying the price of the Olympic ambitions of 2004.
03:04High costs of maintenance, disproportionate infrastructures for the territory
03:08are among the reasons that have multiplied tragic epilogues.
03:11Greece is only one of the victims.
03:15Today, Paris wants to avoid, at all costs, the Olympic disaster.
03:20To do so, it has invested in projects intended to stay.
03:23How to make the Seine swimmable?
03:27The infrastructures made for this purpose have cost 1.4 billion euros
03:32and are the subject of controversy.
03:34The quality of the water has shown better results just a few weeks before the start of the Olympics.
03:40Creating suspense around the trials of Triathlon is known in open water.
03:47We have carried out 7 preliminary series since last September.
03:51During our last preliminaries on June 10, the thresholds were still bad.
03:54But we are not at thresholds that are delusional.
04:00The Surf Rider Foundation provides independent assessments on issues related to water for over 20 years.
04:07The NGO has asked the municipality of Paris to be able to carry out surveys on the site of the races without success.
04:15Are you going to swim in the Seine even if it is declared swimmable?
04:20No, I'm not going because today we are monitoring only two bacterial bacteria
04:24and for me it is not enough.
04:26It can be polluted with other pollutants that are not analyzed in the framework of the regulations on swimming waters.
04:32The dive into the Seine of the mayor of Paris, Annie Dalgo, has been long awaited.
04:37But in the end, the symbolic note was there.
04:42The ban on swimming since 1923 and next year the reopening of the Seine is planned to the public.
04:50It was a dream for us. We worked a lot and very hard. We did it.
04:59Enormous investments have also gone to the neighborhoods and municipalities in the north of Paris.
05:05The Olympic Village is the largest permanent infrastructure built for the occasion.
05:09It is proudly presented as an eco-neighborhood with a future.
05:15We are in the north of Paris, in the department of the Seine-Saint-Denis, the poorest of France.
05:2050 hectares near the Stade de France is considered an example of sustainable architecture.
05:25Once the Olympics are over, it will be returned to the population.
05:31The village will turn into a new neighborhood for 6,000 residents after the Games.
05:35The projects, however, clash with reality.
05:38Apartments are tempted to sell.
05:41The average price of 7,000 euros per square meter is too high for Seine-Saint-Denis.
05:47Do you think there is a risk that there is still an empty neighborhood?
05:50No, I don't think so. It's more expensive than what is traditionally sold there.
05:56But it's much cheaper than in Paris.
05:58So after the change of neighborhood, it may also lead to a certain number of people going there.
06:05Yes, but that means that current residents may not be able to benefit from it because it is too expensive for them.
06:10Of the 3,000 houses that have been built, almost 40% are social housing.
06:18Seine-Saint-Denis is a key site for the Games.
06:21Here, in addition to the Olympic village, the Stade de France is also a new water center worth 175 million euros.
06:29Yet here, sport is still a luxury.
06:34Serge is a former gymnastics teacher.
06:37He is among the supporters of a local movement for the promotion of school sports.
06:43He is convinced that the Olympics will pass from here without being able to change the speed of local sports infrastructures.
06:52The facilities are obsolete because most of the sports facilities in Seine-Saint-Denis are between 40 and 50 years old.
07:01We have 16 facilities for 10,000 inhabitants, while the average for ÃŽle-de-France is 25 and the average for the national level is 50.
07:13The Games have unlocked more than a million euros for this department.
07:16For the residents, too little has gone into the sports infrastructures of the neighborhood.
07:21They complain that the restructuring, when there is, does not consider the real needs.
07:26This fighting room, for example, may disappear when this structure is renovated.
07:31Here is the living proof of what did not necessarily work in the legacy of the Games,
07:35since it is an installation that will be rebuilt two years after the emergence of the Games,
07:39and without taking into account a club that works extremely well and that for the moment has no installation planned in the next construction,
07:47which will certainly be brand new, but we will not have thought of them.
07:51The pro-sport movement of Seine-Saint-Denis claims that here the mission of the Olympics has failed to make sport more accessible to everyone.
07:59For us, the party is a little wasted.
08:01We know as parents that the kids make half an hour to go and half an hour to return,
08:05so on two hours of training they already have an hour that is amputated.
08:09It is as if we were explained that, for example, the English room or the French room is 20 minutes away from school or high school.
08:17A gymnasium is like a classroom in reality.
08:21Restructuring and new sports facilities are still too scarce and not equally distributed, according to local administrators.
08:31For years, they have been asking for a plan of public investment for sports of proximity in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis.
08:38Sport is a right. Nevertheless, all the work is in the hands of the cities.
08:42With all these years of delay, unfortunately we deprive entire populations of being able to access sports equipment.
08:49After the Olympic Games, there is always a craze and a strong demand in terms of licensees to be able to discover new sports.
08:56Nevertheless, it is likely to fail because having very little sports equipment, we will not be able to allow everyone to be able to do sports.
09:09There is a sense of missed opportunity and injustice in the Parisian periphery.
09:13I return to the capital where everything speaks of the Olympics.
09:19There is enthusiasm but also anger for an event that has put the French capital under pressure.
09:25It is complicated, it is closed, there is a lot of violence, aggressiveness.
09:30Paris may not have needed this.
09:32How is the atmosphere in view of the Olympic Games?
09:34Well, Paris goes down to the square.
09:36Very often and more and more.
09:38And this is the protest of the taxi drivers.
09:41Mrs. Hidalgo, Mr. Macron, the Olympic Games will not happen as you want.
09:47We will protect all the streets, all the streets of Paris, all the streets of Paris.
09:53We had the wind of the project of the city of Paris to want to open some bus routes to the VTC platform, which for us is inconceivable.
10:07We are given the pill, we are told it is for the Olympic Games and after that it will stay for life.
10:14The demonstration ended with the arrest of 15 people, but also with the agreement that private drivers will not be admitted on the buses.
10:24Opposite atmosphere for another battle won.
10:27The bookers, the bookers along the Seine managed to maintain their positions and their historic green boxes.
10:35The authorities had requested a temporary relocation of some of them for security reasons in view of the opening ceremony.
10:43We found it so absurd that we are removed.
10:45There are some that we can hear from the boxes and if we lift them, it goes very, very badly.
10:52For the bookers, it remains a victory with reserve.
10:55Let's say the job is going to be much more complicated.
10:57We will not be able to come by car, so we will not be able to reload the boxes.
11:01My opinion is that we should not play sports in a city.
11:04And it takes so little for it to go wrong.
11:08The terrorist threat is the main phobia for Paris 2024.
11:24Last December, a German tourist was killed with a knife near the Eiffel Tower.
11:28The person responsible was known by the authorities as a radical Islamist.
11:32The attack has rekindled fears for security during the Olympic Games.
11:36Since January, at least two terrorist attacks have been unleashed in France.
11:40The head of the police and the Minister of the Interior say that at the moment there is no definite threat against the Games.
11:46However, the Olympics have put the country on maximum alert.
11:51I remind you that the Summer Olympics are the first major event in the world.
11:55It is therefore the most important challenge for the Ministry of the Interior in terms of logistics and security.
12:03Every day, more than 45,000 security forces and 15,000 soldiers will watch the Games.
12:09A giant security machine, set up without criticism,
12:14to protect an event that will attract about 15 million sports and tourist enthusiasts.
12:19On security, things were quite anticipated.
12:23After that, where it gets complicated, it's all around the Olympics.
12:27On security, things were quite anticipated.
12:30After that, where it gets complicated, it's all around the Olympics.
12:33Because it is the administrative and technical staff of the police who will come to support.
12:37And so, as the referees did not come, there is no work organization that has been acted on,
12:41especially on the schedules, the working conditions, if not for about ten days,
12:45while we are just on the eve of the Olympic Games.
12:49The organization of the Olympics has aroused controversy for the delays,
12:54but also for the social fallout of the Games.
12:57Twelve university residences have been requisitioned by the government
13:00to host security personnel, public employees and volunteers who will work at the Olympics.
13:06I went to the Parisian Banlieue to understand.
13:09Here is the residence that will be requisitioned during the Olympic Games by the State.
13:14I have my diploma tonight, but instead of celebrating my diploma,
13:17I am forced to move because I am being expelled from my home
13:20to be replaced by security personnel for these Olympic Games,
13:23which are supposed to be a big party.
13:25Future architect, Honoré is one of the about 200 residents forced to leave this building.
13:31When I arrived, the students had only two days to leave.
13:35With 22,000 apartments in the Paris region, managed by the regional public authority CRUZ,
13:41more than 3,000 units were to be left by the end of June.
13:45I have been living here for five years,
13:49and it is a rather complicated situation to live in.
13:52You really feel abandoned by the State.
13:54Today, for students, it involves two moves, one return,
13:59during periods that are often stressful, the beginning of the year, the exam period.
14:04Today, we live this as something that falls on us.
14:09In the end, CRUZ moved almost 1,000 students,
14:13while another 2,000 were expelled and decided to leave Paris for the summer,
14:17according to the authorities.
14:20The students received 100 euros in compensation and two free tickets for an Olympic event.
14:27Many student unions found the initiative and compensation unacceptable.
14:33We find it completely intolerable that we provide social housing,
14:38first-come-first-served housing, for slightly commercial reasons.
14:42For us, this housing was not occupied by the students.
14:45It should have been used by homeless people or other people in need.
14:50Games promote inclusion,
14:52but there are many who denounce the gap between what is advertised and reality.
14:58Here in Paris, we want the games with a passion.
15:04Games with Parisians, with people of France and the world.
15:17Games are advertised as open and inclusive.
15:20The collective against the medal does not agree.
15:25Under this label, hundreds of associations and NGOs
15:28accuse the organizers of imposing a year of social cleaning
15:32in view of the Olympics and the Paralympics.
15:36With the arrival of the Olympic Games,
15:38we have seen in recent months and in recent years
15:40an acceleration of the removal of exiled people from Paris,
15:45with the multiplication of camps.
15:48It is more a desire to remove people from Paris at the arrival of the NGOs
15:54for after a takeover, after these regional shipments,
15:57which is neither adapted nor sustainable.
16:03This is the collapse of the largest squat in France in the outskirts of Paris.
16:09According to the collective, in the last year,
16:1112,500 people were displaced,
16:14almost 40% more than in 2021-2022.
16:20The abandoned seat of a bus company
16:23hosted up to 450 people,
16:25many of whom had the status of refugee,
16:28legal documents and a job in France.
16:33I have been working for almost a year.
16:35I ask for housing and I did not get it.
16:40Squats, camps of migrants and people without permanent residence
16:43have been demolished more and more quickly
16:46as the opening ceremony approaches.
16:49For the NGOs it was a way to remove an unpleasant population
16:52without a permanent solution.
16:56This is the Maison des Métallos,
16:58a cultural center in the northeast of Paris,
17:00occupied by about 200 young migrants,
17:02forced otherwise to live on the street.
17:05They can be expelled at any time
17:07and for the associations of human rights
17:09this is the tenth case of social cleaning
17:12in view of the Olympic Games.
17:16There are at least 800 minors not accompanied in Paris.
17:19The games have contributed to bring their situation to light.
17:24Those who occupy the Maison des Métallos
17:26have slept on the street for months.
17:30They ask for a permanent shelter and education,
17:33but time is running out because the building must be evicted
17:36to host the House of Japan during the Olympics.
17:40Sol, sol, solidarity with the isolated minors!
17:47Sol, sol, solidarity with the isolated minors!
17:50The eviction takes place at the beginning of July.
17:52It's been months that the only thing the prefecture wants
17:55with the complicity of the city hall
17:57is to expel all those we don't want to see during the Olympics.
18:00The isolated minors, all the people on the street
18:02had as the only solution to get into cars
18:04to go to Orléans, Angers, Marseille.
18:06If they are in Paris, they want to stay in Paris.
18:08That's where they have friends.
18:09That's where they even know how to survive.
18:13After three months of occupation and negotiations,
18:15these young people managed to get transferred
18:18to a community gym in Paris.
18:20In the capital, another 700 minors live in the same conditions.
18:24A temporary solution to a systemic problem.
18:28Every day there are dozens of young people in this city
18:31to whom the minority is refused.
18:32Because once the minority is refused,
18:34we no longer have to take care of them.
18:36And the city hall refuses to solve this situation.
18:39While we are in the city hall of Paris,
18:41which is a left-wing city hall,
18:42which has a lot of resources,
18:44which has access to hundreds of thousands of empty apartments,
18:46which could launch requisitions,
18:48which does nothing.
18:52The underlying problem is not the Olympic Games
18:55or not the Olympic Games.
18:56The problem is that there are a lot of people
18:58who sleep in the street
18:59and that we have to find permanent solutions for these people.
19:01That's what we're asking for,
19:02and the city is participating in this
19:04by making available a certain number of places.
19:07But once you have the places,
19:09you have to make them available
19:11and you have to pay the associations
19:13to welcome the people who are in them.
19:15So it's investment.
19:16And you didn't plan this in advance?
19:18It's not our competence.
19:20The state has to put the means
19:22to occupy these places
19:24and welcome people in there.
19:27FRANCE
19:33Will France be able to create a sustainable precedent
19:36for the next Games?
19:37Before the answers, the medals will arrive.
19:40The time now is all for the athletes,
19:42while the Olympic machine
19:44is already watching Los Angeles 2028.
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