Nearly 15,000 troops are to be deployed for the Paris Olympic Games in the summer of 2024, General Christophe Abad, the Military Governor of Paris, announced on Thursday.
“At this point, 250 days before the event, the armed forces are preparing to mobilise around 15,000 soldiers nationally, with nearly 10,000 deployed in Ile-de-France,” Gen. Abad revealed in a Ministry of Defence press briefing.
Around 5,000 of these soldiers will stay in tents on the Reuilly lawn, in central Paris, throughout the Olympic Games.
The figures do not cater for any potential shortfall in private security, a sector whose troubles are causing concern for the Organising Committee and the government about their ability to muster enough private agents.
“These numbers reflect the capacity of our forces to meet the expressed needs at this stage,” explained Abad. “This does not mean that there won’t be additional missions in the next 250 days, regardless of any issue with private security.”
Between 17,000 and 22,000 security agents are required for the sole purpose of securing competition sites, a responsibility of the Organising Committee.
