Olympics-It was stressful, but we did it, Paris 2024 organisers say

By Julien Pretot

PARIS (Reuters) -What started with a major security scare and torrential rain that threatened the smooth running of the elaborate opening ceremony and swimming events being held in the Seine, ended with the river playing its expected central part in the Olympics.

Paris 2024 organising committee president Tony Estanguet said it had been stressful and adjustments had had to be made, but the triple Olympic champion was beaming with pride as he reflected on Saturday on a successful Games.

"The ambition we had was worth fighting for, we made strong choices, bold choices that are not always the easiest ones," Estanguet told a press conference a day before the Games end.

The Games, with iconic Parisian landmarks integrated in many urban competition venues, have scored strong ratings in key markets, including in the United States for rights holder NBCUniversal, the biggest single source of revenues for the International Olympic Committee.

Organisers had decided marathon swimming and the swimming legs of the triathlon would take place on the Seine, just like the globally acclaimed opening ceremony - the first time one had been held outside a stadium.

And while training sessions and were delayed and the men's triathlon was pushed back due to concerns over the water quality after heavy rain, the events that had been due to happen in the river did go ahead.

"Swimming in the river Seine, we have faced challenges but we did it, we delivered this ambition, that's why it's a fantastic success so far," Estanguet said.

"We've had so much rain (on opening ceremony day), it was not the plan. We had anticipated some rain but we've had to adjust in the final hours and change a lot of things so that this ceremony could happen.

"Yes, I was stressed because I did not know to what extent the artists would manage to adapt to these crazy condition. It was quite an achievement from them."

GLOBAL RATINGS

The weather complicated the ambition to swim in the Seine.

"We had no guarantees on storms, some of them were not anticipated and happened, others were anticipated and did not happen," Estanguet said.

"We were not spared," Paris 2024 CEO Etienne Thobois said. "We had contingency plans and every time we were ready. There were moments of stress but everyone reacted with professionalism. The preparation work was perfect."

Security was another major challenge. Saboteurs struck France's TGV high-speed train network in a series of pre-dawn attacks across the country, causing travel chaos on the morning of the opening ceremony.

"Let's remember those attacks, we responded swiftly, the accreditation system was impacted (by a cyber attack) but we solved the problem within four hours," Thobois said.

The Games were also rated as a success by the IOC, with the Paris Games coordination commission chief Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant praising organisers for the venues, full stadiums and satisfying global ratings.

"If there had been an audacious, daring script for these Games it would have read like that. These Games have set a high benchmark," Beckers-Vieujant told the IOC session on Saturday.

"The Games have truly been embraced by Parisians ... Indeed by the whole world. More than half of the worldwide population will have followed in some form the Olympic Games over the past two weeks."

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Additional reporting by Karolos Grohmann Editing by Alison Williams;)