Comment: Olympics were all about cash but will leave positive legacy
The funds generated by the Games have been well spent and optimism has replaced the usual glumness, writes columnist Nabila Ramdani
The Arena Porte de la Chapelle was built for the Olympics
HJBC/Shutterstock
If you want a reality check about where Olympic dreams lead, then look no further than Simone Biles on a night out in Paris.
The brilliant American artistic gymnast won an incredible three golds and a silver during the summer games in the French capital, and was naturally looking forward to a celebration after the closing ceremony.
Surrounded by friends and fans, and clutching her medals, she instinctively clicked her fingers in a club to order a bottle of Champagne – a drink that is meant to encapsulate French joie de vivre.
Sure, said a waiter, saying that the cost would be $26,000.
Simone refused the offer, asking the unnamed club management on TikTok: “But why would you even try to play me like that?”
That’s a bit like asking why the Olympics organisers were offering third class tickets for minority sports at more than $600 each, and hospitality packages well into five figures.
Beyond the idealism, the Olympics are ultimately an exercise in corporate marketing – the main sponsors are companies run by multibillionaire industrialists, and excessive profiteering is a given.
Investing into Paris
Despite this, there is nothing to stop all that easy cash creating a useful legacy.
On the contrary, a visit to an area of Paris such as Porte de la Chapelle, just north of the Gare du Nord Eurostar hub, suggests that much of it has been well spent.
An 8,000-seat venue was created there – it uses geothermal technology and its seating is made from recycled bottle tops. The stadium will continue to be used for sport and concerts, all of them generating local employment and income.
At least €500 million of Olympic funds went into La Chapelle alone, as part of an urban renewal plan. Impressive new landscaping including lots of tree-lined avenues have certainly improved the atmosphere and – it is hoped – security in a place previously linked with high crime.
Read more: What will be the legacy of the Paris Olympics?
Other new-builds nearby include the Olympic Village, which provides 2,500 new homes, and an aquatics centre that will become a public swimming pool. Transport links have improved dramatically too.
An extension to the Paris Metro encompasses a whole new state-of-the-art station called Pleyel, in St Denis – one of the poorest towns in France. Social mobility requires an improvement in physical mobility, making this a welcome way forward.
Trams now run full circle around the centre of Paris too, while cycle lanes extend more than 300 miles, ensuring much cleaner air. Once congested streets such as Rue de Rivoli – the French Oxford Street that passes the Louvre on its way to Place de la Concorde – now only allow delivery vehicles and taxis.
Other big Olympic projects in the city included making the Seine swimmable for the first time in a century. This €1billion initiative means there could be up to 25 new bathing stations opened by next year – a development which will be a massive bonus for the city.
'Olympics represented rejuvenation'
More generally, Parisians have been describing a change of mood – optimism is replacing the usual glumness and pessimism.
It may all crumble into nothing in a few weeks, as the French get back to rioting and otherwise baiting the increasingly detested President Emmanuel Macron, but Paris 2024 should at least live long in the memory.
Beyond great sport, the Olympics – and the Paralympics after them – represented rejuvenation.
Read more: 2024 Paralympic Games in France: When are they and which sports are included?
If even a fraction of the Olympic myth can be applied to the real world in the months and years ahead, then France will be all the better for it.
