Paris Olympics: The idea of ‘doing more with less’

PTI, Jul 23, 2024, 5:15 PM IST

Paris: From bringing the Games to the heart of the city in the midst of the people to making sustainability its central theme, Paris Olympics promise to be unique, unconventional, and different.

The city’s architectural wonders, such as the iconic Eiffel Tower, serving as photogenic backdrops, an incredible spectacle is set to unfold in the European city that is ready to host the Olympics after 100 years. It was exactly 100 years back that Paris hosted its previous Olympics and the very idea of having a global games was largely aimed at fostering peace and uniting the world.

The idea remains but excellence in sports has assumed greater significance.

Sports has now grown into an effective power tool that nations love to boast and flaunt. A little more than 3000 athletes from 44 nations competed in 1924 in Paris and now the ‘city of lights’ and ‘city of fashion’ is ready to host close to 11,000 athletes. Instead of creating new venues, the city of Paris itself has become the venue — something unseen in the history of the Games.

Instead of spending money on creating new infrastructure, the budget was utilised in upgrading the existing ones and creating temporary venues with city’s famous landmarks serving as imposing backgrounds.

The Beachball action will unfold right next to the Eiffel Tower – the engineering marvel that continues to wow tourists from around the world and the Opening Ceremony will be held right on the river Seine.

“We saw the Olympics as a great opportunity to accelerate the city’s green transformation,” said Emmanuel Grégoire, who was Paris’ Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning, till recently.

“We have transformed public spaces, public transport, the river – without the Games, it could have taken a decade or two more.” However the arrangements have come at a cost that the locals are paying.

It has become extremely difficult for people to enter the city without a valid reason.

“You have to have a strong reason to enter the New Paris. You have to make a request and if approved you get a QR code with which you enter the city,” Salom tells PTI.

“A lot of people have been asked to leave the city, especially the ones who are living near the venues. The buildings near the Olympic venues are now being used by organisers. Mostly the security staff is using them.” The students have been affected the most.

“We had exams in May and were asked to leave in April. We can come back only in September. The compensation is Euro 100 and two tickets for Olympics,” said Salom who was forced to go to her parents’ house.

“They are hosting it in the city that’s right, and the athlete parade will be in the river but the minimum price ticket is Euro 900 for those who won’t get free entry. Average income in Paris is Euro 1400 a month. So the pricing of the ticket is insane,” said a local volunteer.

The organisers are offering free entry to more than 2 lakh people on invitation basis. They will be given access on upper banks. The invitations will go to select residents and local sports administrators

THE POSITIVES

A ‘circular economy’ model has been employed in pulling off the Games which means that existing material is to be shared, leased, refurbished and recycled as much as possible.

According to the Games Organisers, sustainability was key in planning and several efforts have been made to ensure that it is followed.

FEWER RESOURCES, BETTER UTILISATION

The sports equipments to be used during the extravaganza is roughly estimated as 20 lakh pieces, out of which 15 lakh will be either rented or loaned by the Sports Federations.

Even the computers and printers to be used will also be rented. Following a policy that aims to use fewer resources for better utilisation, the number of furniture items has also been reduced to six lakh from an estimated eight lakh in the beginning.

Electric, hybrid and hydrogen-powered vehicles will be used and the number has been reduced to 40 per cent compared to previous editions.The generators will also be powered by biofuel, hydrogen or batteries.

HARDLY ANY NEW VENUES 

Employing a very effective strategy of using iconic Paris’ architectural wonders as backdrop, the organisers are managing the 329 events of the Games either at pre-existing infrastructure or temporary venues, which is 95 percent of the total.

Out of 35 competition venues, only two new arenas have been built and one of those — The Aquatics Centre — has been raised using wood to reduce carbon emissions.

The seats at the venue have been created out of recycled plastic and it has been built strategically at a place where sporting infrastructure is lacking in the city. The other new venue is Porte de La Chapelle Arena.

GENDER PARITY

For the first time, half of the 10,500 athletes will be women, a big step towards ensuring gender parity. In the last edition in Tokyo, the female athletes made up 47.8 percent of the total participants.

Till the 1972 Munich Games, the women’s participation was less than 20 per cent. The traditional closing event of Paris Games will be the women’s marathon instead of men’s and 28 out of 32 sports are gender-equal in this edition.