Can Paris still deliver on its Olympic promises with only three months to go?

The Eiffel Tower was supposed to greet the world’s athletes in a fresh coat of golden shimmer, the River Seine would be swimmable for the first time in 100 years and Paris was going to host the first-ever off-stadium opening ceremony in Olympic history. The hopes and expectations for the 2024 Games were grand and spectacular but with just three months to go will Paris be able to deliver on its promises?

“It’s going to be magical,” Paris’s Mayor Anne Hidalgo exclaimed just moments after learning that her city had won its bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It was the late summer of 2017 and along with Tony Estanguet, France’s three-time Olympic canoeing champion who would later be tapped the chief organiser of the event, the Parisian mayor vowed to deliver an Olympics unlike any other.

Meanwhile, bills have racked up, leading to transport tariff revisions, and the Seine River has proven to be a far more complicated clean-up project than thought.

Despite the hurdles, officials insist the Games are on track. As the three-month countdown begins, FRANCE 24 takes a look at some of the main challenges and where they currently stand.

• Will the Eiffel Tower be painted in gold?

The worst-case scenario, he predicted, would be that the compeition is moved up a few days.

Read more on FRANCE 24 English

Read also:
Ageing Paris metro system to face Olympic challenge of 7 million visitors
French NGO sounds alarm over Seine pollution levels ahead of Olympics
Security fears over splashy River Seine opening ceremony of Paris Olympics