‘Paris 2024 Is the First Gender-Equal Games in History’

THE COUNTDOWN has started. With less than a month to go before the Paris 2024 Olympics, the host city is ready. A unique opening ceremony that will bring together close to 300,000 people watching it along the river Seine, the Paris Games will be the first occasion the world comes together in celebration after Covid. What do these Games mean for the Olympic movement? What to expect from the opening ceremony and how important is it for India? Abhinav Bindra, India’s first-ever individual gold medallist, and Christian Klaue, corporate affairs director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), join me in this exclusive conversation.

What does Paris 2024 mean for the Olympic movement?

Klaue: It will be a very important landmark in the history of the Olympic movement. If you see, Paris is ready. The five Olympic rings are now visible on the Eiffel Tower and the entire world can watch how humanity celebrates sport a month from now. What is most important is that for the first time, the opening ceremony will be out in the open with national delegations coming by boat and streaming down the river Seine. Three hundred thousand people are expected to watch the spectacle unfold against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower and I can tell you it will be an “I-was-there-moment” for anyone who is present. I am hugely excited to see how things play out.

Bindra: I will also say that the Games are a very important moment in Olympic history. For the first time, we will have equal representation from men and women. It is the first gender-equal Games in history and I think it is a massive statement from the IOC. In essence, the Olympic movement stands for empowerment and it is great to see the ideals being transformed into reality in Paris. You should also remember that every effort is being made to make these Games sustainable and that’s another important aspect of Paris 2024.

We have seen stadiums turning into white elephants. In a world where economic viability is key, how important is it for Paris 2024? The fact that most of the venues being used are existing structures is an effort in the right direction.

Klaue: 95 per cent of the sites being used are preexisting venues. And the effort was always to make the Games sustainable. The use of green energy is yet another step in the right direction. When we move to LA in 2028, 100 per cent of the stadiums which will be used, will be preexisting venues. This is a very conscious call from the IOC and we know that economic viability is key. Every effort will be made to make the Olympic Games sustainable and Paris will show the way.

Abhinav, from an Indian standpoint how important are these Games?

Bindra: Very important. We are working towards a possible 2036 bid and if you see, there is far more interest in the Games in India now compared to even five years ago. People want to see and consume the Olympics and efforts like the Olympic Values Education Programme, for example, are making a fundamental difference to people’s lives. The programme has already been implemented in states like Odisha and Assam, and I am very proud that the Abhinav Bindra Foundation has played a role in it.

Klaue: I can tell you that the growth of the Olympic movement in India has been a huge step forward. We at the IOC were delighted with the IOC session in Mumbai last October when India welcomed the Olympic family and the prime minister announced that India was serious about an Olympic bid. We have seen the interest from the Indian media grow exponentially and that’s another indication of how the Games are now perceived in India. The addition of cricket in LA 2028 will further add to the excitement and we are all waiting to see it happen.

“The Paris Olympics are very important. We are working towards a possible 2036 bid. There is more interest in the games in India now compared to even five years ago. People want to see and consume the Olympics and efforts like Olympic values education programme are making a difference to people’s lives,” says Abhinav Bindra, former Olympian

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What is your favourite Olympic memory?

Bindra: Let me take you back to my first Olympics in Sydney in 2000. It was the second day in the village and in the dining hall, Anwar Sultan, a fellow shooting colleague, and I bumped into the Williams sisters. As you can understand, each one of us was excited to see them and wanted to click a photo. The problem was those weren’t smartphone days and we needed our camera, which we did not have with us in the dining hall. Anwar requested them to wait for a few minutes as we ran back to our rooms to get the camera. We were sure they would have left by the time we returned, but to our surprise, they waited. But then the penny dropped! Anwar’s camera did not have a film and we had to buy one to be able to click the photos. Again, we requested them to wait and ran to the shop inside the village. Now, we were absolutely convinced that they wouldn’t be waiting. But when we returned after 15 minutes, we were amazed to see the Williams sisters waiting for us. We did get our photo! But more importantly, it showed me what the Olympic spirit is all about. It is far more than just a sports competition. It brings together athletes from across the world in a manner nothing else does and that’s why it is the world’s greatest human spectacle.

Klaue: That’s a fantastic story. While I don’t really have such a story because I hardly get to see anything in the Games with the amount of work pressure there is, I have already said to you that I am very keen to see how the opening ceremony unfolds in Paris. Nothing like this has been seen before and it will be a unique moment in the history of world sport.

For me, the Games were never about winning medals. Not just about records and athletic achievement. There is so much more to the Games. Maybe, that’s why it is called the Olympic movement. We don’t say the same for anything else. We call it the Cricket World Cup or the FIFA World Cup. But for the Olympics, we call it the Olympic movement. How important is it for humanity and as a peace symbol?

Klaue: The Olympic Games have always been that. It is a celebration of the wider human spirit. Of embracing change and transformation. That Paris is a gender-equal Games is a step in the right direction. And that’s why it is so significant. For the first time, 200-plus nations will come together post-Covid. That’s what the Games are about. The opening ceremony is so much more than just a sport event. It is ritual. And that’s the reason Paris 2024 is one of the most important events in Olympic history.

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Boria Majumdar

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