Australia's Olympic team chief says a scaling down of the opening ceremony for the Paris Games is a positive as French authorities grapple with security concerns at the open-air event.
Paris Olympic organisers initially planned a grandiose opening ceremony along the River Seine attended by 600,000 people, most watching free of charge from riverbanks.
But that crowd number has been slashed with the French government this week saying no tourists or ordinary Parisians would be able to watch the ceremony for free.
