French President Emmanuel Macron, launched the 500-day countdown, to the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics on Tuesday. Bringing the public up to date, with his government’s hopes for the games.
Macron addressed hundreds of officials, in a speech of thanks at The Paris Police Headquarters.
In the speech and on Twitter, Macron thanked the 45,000 volunteers, mobilizing to make the games a success, and again trumpeted the 5,000 new sports grounds that are in the works.
Macron also made reference, to the ambitious 1.4 billion euro scheme, to clean the polluted waters of Paris’ main river artery.
Several events are to be held in the seine, including the 10-kilometer swimming marathon, in a mirror of The First Paris Olympics in 1900. The Paris games’ budget is at 4.4 billion euros, according to an Elysee official.
Ticket sales are a substantial part of the revenues. More than three million tickets were sold, which has made Macron confident, that securing the funds for The Paris games is on track.
