PARIS
\nIn 500 days on Tuesday, the 2024 Summer Olympics will burst into life in Paris as the teams float down the River Seine on barges in a unique opening ceremony.
\nThe Paris Olympics and Paralympics have a lot riding on them \u2013 they involve the return of full crowds of spectators to the world\u2019s greatest sporting spectacle after the Covid-blighted Summer Games in Tokyo in 2021 and the Winter Olympics in Beijing last year.
\nOn top of that, the spending on the Games is being scrutinised as never before \u2013 venues are focused on Seine-Saint-Denis, the poorest area in France.
\nAnd the buildup is being buffeted by the war in Ukraine and its ramifications for competitors from that country, Russia and its ally Belarus.
\nHere are the key issues to be resolved before the Games open on July 26, 2024:
\nThe International Olympic Committee\u2019s suggestion that it wants to find a \u201cpathway\u201d for athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus to take part as neutrals in Paris moved a stop closer on Friday when the International Fencing Federation said it would re-open its events to Russians.
\nUkraine has reacted with fury to the prospect that its athletes will have to compete alongside their aggressors while their country is being bombed from the air and shelled by Russian tanks and has threatened to boycott the Games.
\nIOC president Thomas Bach has passed the decision on to the federations of individual sports, such as fencing.
\nThirty countries including the United States have asked the IOC for \u201cclarification\u201d over how Russian athletes would be able to compete in practice.
\nThe plans to take the opening ceremony out of its traditional stadium setting and stage it on the River Seine, framed by the Eiffel Tower and other monuments, is an organisational headache and has provoked concerns from the security services.
\nThe original plan allows for up to 600,000 spectators along the banks of the Seine but political sources say the number could be revised down.
\nPrivate security companies are struggling to recruit enough staff, begging the question of whether the army will be called in, as it was for the 2012 London Olympics.
\nInterior Minister Gerald Darmanin says it is \u201ctoo early to say\u201d while Etienne Thobois, the director general of the 2024 organising committee says \u201call scenarios are on the table\u201d.
\nWill the Paris transport system, which has been plagued by staff shortages and sporadic strikes in recent months, be ready to move millions of people around the city for the Olympics?
\nNow headed by former prime minister Jean Castex, network operator RATP is under extreme pressure.
\nThere are serious questions about whether the extension of a key metro line to the Athletes\u2019 Village will be completed and a large shortfall in the number of bus drivers is causing concerns too.
\nParis\u2019 airports, still attempting to return to full capacity after the Covid pandemic, are in a race against time to be ready for a massive influx of competitors and spectators from abroad.
\nThe first sales phase for tickets sparked criticism from people who felt they were too expensive and resented being forced to buy tickets for minor sports if they also wanted to see popular events like athletics and gymnastics.
\nThe organisers say the prices are in line with the London Olympics.
\nChief organiser Tony Estanguet insisted the first stage had been a success \u201ceven if we understand the criticism and the frustration of some people who were not satisfied\u201d.
\nThe organising committee\u2019s budget, of which 96 percent comes from private funding, rose 10 percent to 4.4 billion euros ($4.7 billion) last year. Add to that another 4.4 billion euros for Solideo, the body tasked with building facilities, and the total budget comes to 8.8 billion euros.
\nLocal politicians in the deprived Seine-Saint-Denis area are watching the expenditure more closely than anyone.
\n\u201cWhen the Olympic flame is extinguished, residents here won\u2019t be asking (Paris Mayor) Anne Hidalgo, (President) Emmanuel Macron or Tony Estanguet for accountability, they\u2019ll be asking me,\u201d said the head of the area, Stephane Troussel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS In 500 days on Tuesday, the 2024 Summer Olympics will burst into life in Paris as the teams float down the River Seine on barges in a unique opening ceremony. The Paris Olympics and Paralympics have a lot riding on them \u2013 they involve the return of full crowds of spectators to the world\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-319370","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n