In Paris鈥� outskirts, a bright-eyed young girl is eager for the to end.
That鈥檚 because the swimming club where 10-year-old Lyla Kebbi trains will inherit an Olympic pool. It will be dismantled after the Games and trucked from the Olympic race venue in Paris鈥� high-rise business district to Sevran, a Paris-area town with less glitter and wealth. There, the pieces will be bolted back together and 鈥� voila ! 鈥� Kebbi and her swim team will have a new Olympic-sized pool to splash around in.
鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible !鈥� she says. 鈥淚 hope it鈥檚 going to bring us luck,鈥� adds her mother, Nora.
In 100 days as of Wednesday, the Paris Olympics will kick off with . But the in France鈥檚 capital won鈥檛 be judged for spectacle alone. Another yardstick will be their impact on disadvantaged Paris suburbs, away from the city-center landmarks that are hosting much of the action.
By promising socially positive and also less polluting and less wasteful Olympics, the city synonymous with romance is also setting itself the high bar of making future Games generally more desirable.
Critics question their value for a world grappling with and other emergencies. Potential host cities became so Games-averse that Paris and Los Angeles were when the International Olympic Committee selected them for 2024 and 2028, respectively.
After and the of the Tokyo Games in 2021, of beneficial change for host Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and tarnished by Russian doping and President Vladimir , the Switzerland-based IOC has mountains of skepticism to dispel.
SPREADING BENEFITS BEYOND CENTRAL PARIS
The idea that the July 26-Aug. 11 Games and Aug. 28-Sept. 8 should benefit disadvantaged communities in the Seine-Saint-Denis region northeast of Paris was built from the outset into the city鈥檚 plans.
Seine-Saint-Denis is mainland France鈥檚 poorest region. Thanks to generations of immigration, it also is vibrantly diverse, counting 130 nationalities and more than 170 languages spoken by its 1.6 million inhabitants. For Seine-Saint-Denis kids facing and other barriers, sports are sometimes a route out. World Cup winner Kylian Mbapp茅 honed as a boy in the Seine-Saint-Denis town of Bondy.
Once heavily industrialized, Seine-Saint-Denis became grim and scary in parts after many jobs were lost. Rioting rocked its streets in 2005 and . Members of an Islamic extremist cell that in the French capital in 2015 hid after the carnage in an apartment in the town of Saint-Denis and were with heavily armed SWAT teams. That drama unfolded just a 15-minute walk from the Olympic stadium that will host track and field and rugby and the closing ceremonies.
Concretely, the Games will leave a legacy of new and refurbished sports infrastructure in Seine-Saint-Denis, although critics say the investment still isn鈥檛 enough to catch it up with better equipped, more prosperous regions.
Mamitiana Rabarijaona grew up close to the Olympic stadium, built originally for the 1998 soccer World Cup. He says it didn鈥檛 provide much of a boost for Seine-Saint-Denis residents. He believes the Olympics will be 鈥渁 big party鈥� and he will be among who鈥檒l be helping. But he is not expecting Olympic-related investments to magically erase Seine-Saint-Denis鈥� many difficulties.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like lifting the carpet and brushing the dust underneath,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 make it go away.鈥�
Seine-Saint-Denis got the new that will become housing and offices when the 10,500 Olympians and 4,400 Paralympians have left. It also is home to the Games鈥� only purpose-built competition venue, an aquatics center for diving, water polo and Other competition venues already existed, were previously planned or will be temporary.
鈥淲e really were driven by the ambition of sobriety and above all not to build sports facilities that aren鈥檛 needed and which will have no reason to exist after the Games,鈥� Marie Barsacq, the organizing committee鈥檚 legacy director, said in an interview.
The hand-me-down 50-meter pool for Sevran will be a significant upgrade. The Seine-Saint-Denis town of 51,000 people was whacked by factory closures in the 1990s. Its existing 25-meter pool is nearly 50 years old.
Other Seine-Saint-Denis towns are also getting new or renovated pools 鈥� particularly welcome for the region鈥檚 children, because only half of them can swim.
鈥淭he ambition for these Olympic Games 鈥� is that they benefit everyone and for the longest time possible,鈥� said Sevran Mayor St茅phane Blanchet. The Olympics, Blanchet said, can鈥檛 鈥渃arry on just passing though and then moving on without thinking about tomorrow.鈥�
PARIS COSTS COMPARE FAVORABLY
At close to 9 billion euros ($9.7 billion), more than half from sponsors, ticket sales and other non-public funding, Paris鈥� expenses so far are less than for the last three Summer Games in Tokyo, Rio and London in 2012.
Including policing and transport costs, the portion of the bill for French taxpayers is likely to be around 3 billion euros ($3.25 billon), France鈥檚 body for auditing public funds said in its most recent study in July.
remains a challenge for the city by deadly extremist violence. The government downsized ambitions to have 600,000 people lining for the opening ceremony. Citing the risk of attacks, it that anyone could apply for hundreds of thousands of free tickets. Instead, the 326,000 spectators will either be paying ticket-holders or have been invited.
Privacy advocates are critical of being deployed to spot security threats. Campaigners for the homeless are concerned that they will be swept off streets. Many to avoid the disruptions or to rent their homes to the expected 15 million visitors. With pushing for Olympic bonuses, strikes are also possible.
And all this against an inflammable backdrop of geopolitical crises including but not limited to and . As a consequence, the IOC isn鈥檛 allowing athletes from Russia and ally Belarus at the opening ceremony.
Still, Olympics fans expect big things of Paris. They include Ayaovi Atindehou, a 32-year-old trainee doctor from Togo studying in France. The Olympic volunteer believes the Games can bridge divisions, even if just temporarily.
鈥淭he whole world without racial differences, ethnic differences, religious differences. We will be all together, shouting, celebrating,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e need the Olympic Games.鈥�
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