At the same time, a year ago, we were all impatient while waiting for the Paris Games. They will have marked the year 2024 in France and around the world. But now we have to turn the page. The Paris 2024 teams are reduced to nothing, but they still have one mission: transmission with Los Angeles, which will host the Games in 2028.
At the Stade de France, in the summer humidity, the image of the flag transmitted to Los Angeles had left its mark. But this transmission involves many things other than symbols. This is the role of the teams of Lambis Konstantinidis, director of planning at Paris 2024, who already has 11 Olympic Games on his CV. “The big job, at the very beginning, was to find documents from former Cojo (Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games) to help our collaborators, he explains. And from there, we structured our own knowledge transfer. So every year, we set aside documents that we knew were necessary for the future Cojo.”
Ultimately, more than a thousand documents and 500 groups of data will be transmitted to the teams in Los Angeles. “For example, the customs guide. When you come from Australia or India, how can you bring horses or cars? We also have the consumption of radio frequencies, a subject that no one talks about. More than 60 000 radio frequencies were needed for the Paris Games, so it is anticipated. These are the types of data that we transmitted.
At the same time, Tony Estanguet and his closest collaborators regularly traveled to Los Angeles to provide their expertise and to answer sometimes very specific questions from future organizers. “Many foreigners are very surprised by the fact that there weren’t many strikes during the Games, he observes. They asked us the question: ‘How did you manage to avoid strikes?’ And we spend a lot of time explaining the model that we followed with our social charter, with the entire ecosystem built with the unions, to work with them and ensure that they were allies in this project. Our American friends asked us many questions.”
Questions also came up about security and transport. “They are trying to see how they can build a transportation system for the Games that meets expectations. We spent a lot of time on that.”
“The American model is very different. In Los Angeles in particular, they really have a car culture and that can’t work for the Games.”
Lambis Konstantinidis, director of planning at Paris 2024at franceinfo
In the coming months, the IOC could choose several Paris 2024 alumni to join the Cojo 2028 as consultants. To also reassure perhaps Los Angeles, which inevitably begins to develop a Parisian complex. “Paris is Paris. They told us with a smile that the bar was very high. I think there was a moment of demotivation, but now they say they will be able to do as well, or even better. “
But Lambis Konstantinidis is convinced, the Los Angeles Games will be spectacular in their own way. “We feel this desire to bring this legendary creativity out of California, out of Hollywood. They will make the Games very spectacular. I think we will have great things to see.” And as a wink from this transmission, the 2028 Olympics will begin… on July 14.
