In ParisB次元官网网址� outskirts, a bright-eyed young girl is eager for the to end.
ThatB次元官网网址檚 because the swimming club where 10-year-old Lyla Kebbi trains will inherit an Olympic pool. It will be dismantled after the Games and trucked from the Olympic race venue in ParisB次元官网网址� high-rise business district to Sevran, a Paris-area town with less glitter and wealth. There, the pieces will be bolted back together and B次元官网网址� voila ! B次元官网网址� Kebbi and her swim team will have a new Olympic-sized pool to splash around in.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 incredible !B次元官网网址� she says. B次元官网网址淚 hope itB次元官网网址檚 going to bring us luck,B次元官网网址� adds her mother, Nora.
In 100 days as of Wednesday, the Paris Olympics will kick off with . But the in FranceB次元官网网址檚 capital wonB次元官网网址檛 be judged for spectacle alone. Another yardstick will be their impact on disadvantaged Paris suburbs, away from the city-center landmarks that are hosting much of the action.
By promising socially positive and also less polluting and less wasteful Olympics, the city synonymous with romance is also setting itself the high bar of making future Games generally more desirable.
Critics question their value for a world grappling with and other emergencies. Potential host cities became so Games-averse that Paris and Los Angeles were when the International Olympic Committee selected them for 2024 and 2028, respectively.
After and the of the Tokyo Games in 2021, of beneficial change for host Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and tarnished by Russian doping and President Vladimir , the Switzerland-based IOC has mountains of skepticism to dispel.
SPREADING BENEFITS BEYOND CENTRAL PARIS
The idea that the July 26-Aug. 11 Games and Aug. 28-Sept. 8 should benefit disadvantaged communities in the Seine-Saint-Denis region northeast of Paris was built from the outset into the cityB次元官网网址檚 plans.
Seine-Saint-Denis is mainland FranceB次元官网网址檚 poorest region. Thanks to generations of immigration, it also is vibrantly diverse, counting 130 nationalities and more than 170 languages spoken by its 1.6 million inhabitants. For Seine-Saint-Denis kids facing and other barriers, sports are sometimes a route out. World Cup winner Kylian Mbapp茅 honed as a boy in the Seine-Saint-Denis town of Bondy.
Once heavily industrialized, Seine-Saint-Denis became grim and scary in parts after many jobs were lost. Rioting rocked its streets in 2005 and . Members of an Islamic extremist cell that in the French capital in 2015 hid after the carnage in an apartment in the town of Saint-Denis and were with heavily armed SWAT teams. That drama unfolded just a 15-minute walk from the Olympic stadium that will host track and field and rugby and the closing ceremonies.
Concretely, the Games will leave a legacy of new and refurbished sports infrastructure in Seine-Saint-Denis, although critics say the investment still isnB次元官网网址檛 enough to catch it up with better equipped, more prosperous regions.
Mamitiana Rabarijaona grew up close to the Olympic stadium, built originally for the 1998 soccer World Cup. He says it didnB次元官网网址檛 provide much of a boost for Seine-Saint-Denis residents. He believes the Olympics will be B次元官网网址渁 big partyB次元官网网址� and he will be among whoB次元官网网址檒l be helping. But he is not expecting Olympic-related investments to magically erase Seine-Saint-DenisB次元官网网址� many difficulties.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 like lifting the carpet and brushing the dust underneath,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚t doesnB次元官网网址檛 make it go away.B次元官网网址�
Seine-Saint-Denis got the new that will become housing and offices when the 10,500 Olympians and 4,400 Paralympians have left. It also is home to the GamesB次元官网网址� only purpose-built competition venue, an aquatics center for diving, water polo and Other competition venues already existed, were previously planned or will be temporary.
B次元官网网址淲e really were driven by the ambition of sobriety and above all not to build sports facilities that arenB次元官网网址檛 needed and which will have no reason to exist after the Games,B次元官网网址� Marie Barsacq, the organizing committeeB次元官网网址檚 legacy director, said in an interview.
The hand-me-down 50-meter pool for Sevran will be a significant upgrade. The Seine-Saint-Denis town of 51,000 people was whacked by factory closures in the 1990s. Its existing 25-meter pool is nearly 50 years old.
Other Seine-Saint-Denis towns are also getting new or renovated pools B次元官网网址� particularly welcome for the regionB次元官网网址檚 children, because only half of them can swim.
B次元官网网址淭he ambition for these Olympic Games B次元官网网址� is that they benefit everyone and for the longest time possible,B次元官网网址� said Sevran Mayor St茅phane Blanchet. The Olympics, Blanchet said, canB次元官网网址檛 B次元官网网址渃arry on just passing though and then moving on without thinking about tomorrow.B次元官网网址�
PARIS COSTS COMPARE FAVORABLY
At close to 9 billion euros ($9.7 billion), more than half from sponsors, ticket sales and other non-public funding, ParisB次元官网网址� expenses so far are less than for the last three Summer Games in Tokyo, Rio and London in 2012.
Including policing and transport costs, the portion of the bill for French taxpayers is likely to be around 3 billion euros ($3.25 billon), FranceB次元官网网址檚 body for auditing public funds said in its most recent study in July.
remains a challenge for the city by deadly extremist violence. The government downsized ambitions to have 600,000 people lining for the opening ceremony. Citing the risk of attacks, it that anyone could apply for hundreds of thousands of free tickets. Instead, the 326,000 spectators will either be paying ticket-holders or have been invited.
Privacy advocates are critical of being deployed to spot security threats. Campaigners for the homeless are concerned that they will be swept off streets. Many to avoid the disruptions or to rent their homes to the expected 15 million visitors. With pushing for Olympic bonuses, strikes are also possible.
And all this against an inflammable backdrop of geopolitical crises including but not limited to and . As a consequence, the IOC isnB次元官网网址檛 allowing athletes from Russia and ally Belarus at the opening ceremony.
Still, Olympics fans expect big things of Paris. They include Ayaovi Atindehou, a 32-year-old trainee doctor from Togo studying in France. The Olympic volunteer believes the Games can bridge divisions, even if just temporarily.
B次元官网网址淭he whole world without racial differences, ethnic differences, religious differences. We will be all together, shouting, celebrating,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲e need the Olympic Games.B次元官网网址�
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