With July just around the corner, is Paris ready to host the Summer Games? Mostly yes, if you listen to France's president, who was on hand this Thursday for the inauguration of the Olympic village. It's one of the few venues built from scratch for an event that promised sustainability and, for the most part, to showcase existing structures. A total budget of less than €9 billion makes for 40 percent less than that of the 2012 London Olympics.
But there's still plenty that can go wrong, from Paris transport strikes and price gouging on hotel rooms to what's on a municipal employee's stolen laptop. Sources at Paris City Hall say he claimed to have been robbed of security plans for the Olympics so that police would expedite his case. Either way, what are the challenges, particularly surrounding the opening ceremonies along the River Seine?
More broadly, there's an essential question: 100 years after Paris last hosted the Games, what are the Olympics all about? In an era of superpower tensions and of splintered allegiances, why does this global spectacle continue to fascinate?
Read moreParis in 2024: Much more than the Olympics at stake?
Produced by Charles Wente, Rebecca Gnignati and Louise Guibert.
