About fifty boats in single file, of all sizes, colors and sizes, that does not go unnoticed in the heart of Paris. All the more so when the river brigade and boats armed with cameras accompany this strange wandering. Organized on the Seine, Monday July 17, between the Austerlitz bridge and the quays of Jena, the river procession was intended to test several technical elements for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
On July 26, 2024 at 8:24 p.m., more than a hundred boats will transport 200 delegations from all over the world. But for this trial gallop, only 57 boats were mobilized, including 39 for the athletes’ parade and 18 for the related fleet, which includes coaching, civil security, assistance and observation boats. The boats covered the 6 km long route twice, taking advantage of an exceptional stop in navigation between 4 a.m. and noon.
“We are very satisfied with this technical and operational test, said Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris Games organizing committee, on arrival at the quays of Jena. Before adding the artistic part of the ceremony, we had to make sure that everything was doable by testing the spacing of the barges, the speed, the ways of docking. We want the experience to be unforgettable for the athletes! »
The security of the parade on the test bench
If the boats ran empty on Monday, with no other pageantry than a simple numbering on the hull, they will be filled with nearly 10,000 athletes on the evening of the traditional parade of nations.
This aquatic version of the parade, a first in the history of Olympism, required several adjustments between the Organizing Committee of the Games, the maritime prefecture, the police prefecture, the City of Paris and the Olympic Broadcasting Services ( OBS), the Olympic television broadcaster. “It’s a very unusual challenge, we’ve never organized an armada of this magnitude,” said the Ile-de-France maritime prefecture. For us, the objective of this test is twofold: to ensure that we comply with navigation regulations and to ensure safety on the boats. »
The maneuver also mobilized 850 police officers and a helicopter, deployed to take marks before D-Day. Jets of projectiles, nobody in the water, discomfort on the boats, even terrorist attack, the securing of this gigantic open-air party constitutes a real headache.
“We tested for the first time a command room dedicated to the event which articulates the BRI, the RAID and the GIGN, assured the prefect of police, Laurent Nuñez. We also discreetly carried out several safety tests on the docks and on the boats, without disturbing the parade. »
The opportunity to also test the radio systems and the good coordination of the various actors in the event of a problem. To prevent any eventuality, engine failure and discomfort were thus simulated on barges.
“We are not far from what we imagined”
This rehearsal should be the only one to be held on the Seine. To keep the mystery intact, the other trials – including the artistic elements – will be held on discreet bodies of water. But the challenges remain numerous: “It’s a real puzzle, you have to respect the protocol order and manage the number of delegations. We may be at the 45th version of the opening ceremony and it is still likely to move, recognizes Thierry Reboul, the “Mr. Ceremony” of Paris 2024. A lot of things are wrong, in the timing, the maneuvers, etc. But the basics are there. We are not far from what we imagined. »
Another element to be integrated by 2024, the parade should include around thirty “green” boats out of the 180 ships that will make up the fleet. Boats which were not yet deployed on Monday since “mostly still being modernized”, according to the maritime prefect.
But 459 days from this unprecedented ceremony, the main question concerns the number of people who will be able to attend the ceremony free of charge from the upper banks of the Seine. Tony Estanguet remains evasive: “It’s not just about welcoming the public, we want to guarantee a satisfactory experience for the spectator on the upper banks of the Seine so that the latter has sufficient visibility [of the] parade”.
Asked about the same subject after the demonstration, the Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, for her part mentioned “announcements in the fall on the high quays”. It will therefore be necessary to wait a little before seeing the athletes parade on the Seine.
