PARIS — As the Olympic competition winds down Sunday, Paris police and security services are shifting their focus to the closing ceremony that will bring the curtain down on the 2024 Summer Games.
More than 30,000 police officers have been deployed around the French capital and beyond to watch over the last Olympic events, including the women’s marathon, women’s modern pentathlon in Versailles and women’s basketball final between France and the United States.
Hours before the closing ceremony, French police evacuated the area around the Eiffel Tower after a shirtless man was seen climbing the 330-meter (1,083-foot) tall landmark. Police intervened and the man was detained.
After the lavish open-air ceremony that kicked off the Games, the Paris closing show will take place at the Stade de France in the northern suburb of Saint-Denis at 9 p.m. It’s expected to last just over two hours, organizers said.
France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said there is “no (terrorist) threat that would specifically target the closing ceremony.” About 3,000 police troops will be deployed well into Sunday night around the Stade de France, in addition to at least 20,000 police and other security personnel that have already been mobilized in Paris and the Saint-Denis area.
They will ensure the safety of heads of states attending the closing ceremony, fans using public transport to reach the stadium and their accommodations late at night, as well as the athletes’ last night at the Olympic Village, Darmanin said.
The show will stretch late into the evening, and high-level security “will allow us to celebrate our athletes and the very successful Olympic Games, in terms of sport and organization and in terms of security,” Darmanin said.
Just hours before the July 26 opening ceremony, French transport was thrust into chaos after a series of coordinated “malicious acts” upended high-speed train lines. Officials said the arson attacks and other vandalism on the rail system were a form of sabotage on a pivotal day of the Games. No arrests have been made in connection to the attacks amid an ongoing investigation.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
