The 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris are set to kick off under unprecedented security measures amid an array of politically motivated security threats, writes Tamsin Hunt.
Soldiers with assault rifles patrol the streets of Paris, fighter jets are on standby, and large parts of the city are cut off to regular pedestrians. These are just some of the security measures deployed to ensure the safety of spectators and athletes during the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. The games will stretch from 26 July to 11 August 2024, attended by hundreds of thousands of spectators, and contested by athletes from around the world. Concurrently, however, this prestigious international event takes place at a time of major geopolitical tension – with ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza – and amid political upheaval in France itself; and despite persistent efforts by organisers to depoliticise the event, a raft of extremist and political groups have threatened to leverage the games to advance their own interests. France thus faces substantial challenges in delivering an event free of politically driven protests or extremist attacks, and for months, French authorities have been engaged in identifying and mitigating potential security threats. While the sight of armed guards in Paris may be startling to visitors and residents alike, and security cordons may disrupt local businesses, the impact of a terror attack would prove far worse.
Extremist attacks
With its large crowds and international prominence, the Olympic Games and other high-profile global events present attractive targets for any extremist group looking to incite chaos and terror, perhaps even more so given their global audiences. France’s police have highlighted Islamist extremism as their top security concern ahead of and during the games, having already arrested a teenager in May for planning to attack Olympic football games at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium in Saint-Étienne in the name of Islamic State. Domestic political extremists too could view the games as an attractive target, and counter-terrorism police have already detained at least one far-right individual – just days before the opening ceremony in July – for allegedly planning an attack targeting the Olympic torch relay in the Bas-Rhin Region.
Extremist attacks at previous Olympic Games:
Russia, 2012
Russia’s secret service seized a cache of weapons in May 2012, foiling a suspected plot by a Chechen rebel group to attack the Winter Olympics scheduled to take place in Sochi in 2014.
US, 1996
An anti-LGBT and anti-abortion extremist detonated an explosive device at a music show during the Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, killing one person and injuring more than 100 others.
Germany, 1972
Palestinian militants infiltrated the athletes’ village in Munich and killed 11 Israeli nationals.
Political upheaval and civil unrest
Exacerbating divides between the far-left and far-right, France’s government has been in a state of major political upheaval since the June-July snap election. The country’s National Assembly is split between three almost equal political blocs, with deep divides between those on the political left, the centrists – which includes President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance Party – and the right. While parliament deliberates on appointing the next prime minister and cabinet, political wrangling and instability has the potential to drive unrest over the coming weeks, and opposition groups and politically engaged labour unions may leverage the Olympic Games to enhance their bargaining power with Macron. On 11 July, for instance, Sophie Binet, leader of the powerful Confédération Générale du Travail (General Confederation of Labour, CGT) threatened to mobilise during the Olympics should Macron prevent the left-wing coalition that won the election from leading the new government.
Labour unions have also used the upcoming games, and the threat of disruptive industrial action, to negotiate for improved wages and benefits. Unionised airport staff, for instance, planned to go on strike just days before the start of the Olympics over demands for bonuses and increased staffing while the games take place. The strike was soon abandoned following negotiations with Paris’s airport operator, Aéroports de Paris; but had it gone ahead, the strike could have severely impacted Paris’s key airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly, with both airports expecting to process hundreds of thousands of travellers daily during the games.
Meanwhile, the likelihood of activism from pro-Palestine activists – and pro-Israel counter-protesters – is strong. For weeks ahead of the games, hundreds have joined pro-Palestine marches through central Paris and outside the headquarters for the Paris Olympics Organising Committee, denouncing Israel’s participation in the event amid the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. As with other global events that have taken place since the war broke out, demonstrations against Israel’s participation are likely to persist throughout, and likely to attract hundreds, if not thousands, of demonstrators.
Disruptive unrest at previous Olympic Games
The dynamics that drove popular protests during past Olympics were unique to the context of each host country, but there is a common thread running through – the sheer cost of the event exacerbating existing political grievances and divides.
Japan, 2021
Tokyo’s Olympic games – postponed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic – were deeply unpopular. Hundreds took to the streets during the opening ceremony to denounce the cost of the games that took place while Japan’s population grappled with the socio-economic fallout of pandemic-related lockdowns.
Brazil, 2016
Thousands protested before and during the games in Rio de Janeiro to denounce the billions that the government spent on the event, while pushing austerity measures that restricted funding for the country’s basic civil services.
Greece, 2004
Hundreds protested in Athens to denounce the massive costs of security, which were aimed at guarding against an Islamist extremist attack amid the Iraq War. The costs of security measures in the city exacerbated anti-US sentiment in Greece, resulting in disruptive demonstrations in which several people were hurt.
Security in spades
The intent to disrupt the Paris Olympics is undeniable, and France’s security response is substantial. This security has already proved necessary, with police arresting 78 people attempting to disrupt the Olympic torch procession, and intercepting dozens of suspicious drones, during the first three weeks of the relay. Paris will deploy 30,000 police officers per day for the duration of the games, with support from 18,000 military personnel, and authorities have closed large parts of the city to non-residents and those without a ticket. During the opening ceremony alone – to be held outdoors on 26 July, along a 6 km stretch of the Seine – 45,000 officers will stand guard.
For attendees, Parisian residents and local businesses, these unprecedented security conditions are set to drive major disruptions throughout the three-week event, from the possible denial of access to parts of the city if France’s ticketing systems pick up any security concern – such as criminal records, Islamist radicalisation, or political extremism – to the inconvenience of road closures, and surveillance through AI-powered monitoring systems. Yet with these systems in place, the hope now is that the hundreds of thousands of spectators in Paris – and the world over – may turn their attention to the games, an event that has long sought to promote mutual tolerance through sport.
