The International Olympic Committee will reap profits from the 2024 Paris games—but how will Paris fare?
Despite my best intentions, I find myself caught up in the whirlwind of the Olympic Games set to be held in Paris next year. I am a local elected official of the nearby town of Boulogne, which shares three large stadiums with the French capital that will be used throughout the games. The town is also halfway between the Eiffel Tower and the Château de Versailles, along the route for the Olympic marathons. There will be four races in total next year: for men, women, para-Olympians, and the public. One of the three stadiums, originally a rugby ground, has been hired out for the monthlong games by the German delegation, which is hoping to celebrate all its victories there. The German team is made up of 5,000 people, and athletes are accompanied by trainers, massage therapists, doctors, PR agents, fan clubs, family, and all the other hangers-on who now keep the wheels of Sport, Inc., well oiled. The Chinese delegation has just as many people and even asked the Boulogne mayor’s office to hire the entire town. This included all the hotels, restaurants, and public spaces, and would have made it easy to accommodate, assemble, and of course monitor the athletes and their staff. We refused, despite the red envelopes we may have otherwise received.
Scam of scams.
