Olympic and Paralympic Games 2024: no significant incidents thanks to excellent preparation

With tens of thousands of Belgian supporters descending on France for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, our colleagues in our neighbouring country had to be prepared for anything, including high numbers of requests for assistance and a potential serious crisis. Fortunately, everything went off without any significant incidents.

Every 4 years, the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games offer a huge celebration for sports fans. While the Tokyo Games in 2021 – still in full corona times – had to make do without an audience, at the Games this summer in Paris there were no such restrictions.
 

More than 257,000 tickets from Belgium

Belgians signed up in large numbers, with the Games being held just a stone's throw from here. Over 257,000 tickets were purchased on the Belgian market for the Olympics alone! Tens of thousands of Belgians descended on France specifically for the Games, not only in Paris, but also in cities like Marseilles, Lyon and Lille where competitions also took place.

It was a huge number of people and this naturally corresponds to a potentially higher risk that those people could encounter problems when staying France. Supporters could lose their identity cards, be arrested, fall ill or even die... In addition, France maintained a high threat level for several months as the possibility of an attack could not be ruled out.

And this is where one of the core tasks of our FPS and our missions – embassies and (honorary) consulates – comes in: providing assistance to Belgians abroad. Our colleagues, quite literally, had to be prepared for anything! They had to be able to adequately answer all the questions from the countless Belgian supporters, even in the event of a serious crisis.
 

Crisis planning

In order to prepare thoroughly, our missions started working more than a year before the start of the Games. Our colleagues in Paris (embassy) and Marseille (consulate general) worked closely with the headquarters in Brussels (neighbouring countries service, service of assistance to Belgians abroad, crisis centre, communications...), the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee (BOIC), the Prime Minister's chancellery and the Royal Palace.

To develop robust crisis planning, our team also took advantage of their contacts with local players. This included the French Interior Ministry, local police, victim support associations and so on.

All foreign career staff at the embassy continued to work during the Games and most of the local staff did the same. In addition, 5 on-site workers reinforced the consular assistance service during office hours. Outside office hours, we were able to ensure an on-call service – with 2 emergency numbers for Belgians in need – and were able to guarantee service even in a crisis.

Site visits in the Seine-Saint-Denis and Lille areas, among others, taught us how local authorities approached organisation. On our missions' website and in the travel advice for France, we added information sheets with specific explanations for Belgian tourists who came to support the Olympic Games. For the visitors in Lille, we made a separate sheet. After all, Belgians bought 42,000 tickets for the Belgian Cats basketball games alone, which were held in Lille. We also used our social media extensively to publicise info.
 

Flawless

Ultimately, the massive presence of Belgian supporters did not lead to a higher number of consular assistance cases. Even in Marseille – which tends to have a somewhat unsafe image – the Games went off without a hitch. Our consulate general received no more calls for assistance there than under normal circumstances.

This extremely favourable course of events was certainly due to the excellent organisation by the French. The French authorities did all they could to keep tourists as informed as possible and deployed law enforcement officers en masse.

Around 30,000 police officers and gendarmes were on duty during the Games, with as many as 45,000 working during the opening ceremony. This huge team of people received support in the process from other countries, including Belgium. The dog handlers in Lille and Paris, for example, where members of the Belgian Federal Police and State Security participated in daily security briefings.

Moreover, the participation of liaison officers from the federal police and State Security in an "international cooperation centre" proved extremely useful for our missions.

High dignitaries

Needless to say, our missions were on standby not only for the Belgian supporters, but equally for the Belgian Olympic and Paralympic teams. The numerous Belgian dignitaries who came to visit were also counting on us. And the latter took up a great deal of time. After all, we were required to accompany them, according to protocol.

During the Olympics, for example, we welcomed the Royal couple and their 4 children, the Prime Minister and a number of federal and regional Ministers. And Prime Minister De Croo and Minister Lalieux attended the Paralympic Games. Princess Astrid stayed in Paris from the opening on Wednesday through Saturday to cheer on the Paralympic team.
 

Lotto Belgium House

You may have heard about the Lotto Belgium House, the centrally located supporters' house, near the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées. This BOIC initiative was co-sponsored by our FPS. We financed the opening reception, including the concert, in the presence of the Royal couple and the Prime Minister.

This type of supporters' house is vital during the Games, especially when so many Belgian fans are in attendance. A total of about 33,000 visitors attended and 3,000 VIP lunches were held.

A supporters' house is also ideal for showcasing our country's assets. The regional trade bodies (AWEX, FIT...) organised several successful business events at this location. In fact, several Belgian companies made an indispensable contribution to the Paris Olympics, providing turf, infrastructure, electronics and IT services (ticketing system, giant screens, sound systems...). King Philippe was able to experience this Belgian expertise for himself during the opening ceremony because they also helped make the dazzling light show on the Eiffel Tower a reality.

During the Paralympic Games, Belgians could visit the Lotto Paralympic Belgium House in the Salon Elysée Té on the Champs-Élysées. Its convenient location provided excellent visibility for our country. Again, our FPS supported the Paralympic Committee in the creation of this house.
 

Colourful fresco

A stunning eye-catcher was undoubtedly the fresco by French artist Tim Marsh that adorned our embassy in Paris. This mural was funded by the Prime Minister's chancellery as part of the Belgium Beyond campaign that aims to boost Belgium's image abroad. During the Games, the artwork was showered with praise by passers-by, also thanks to the central location of our embassy near the Place de l'Etoile. Incidentally, the colourful mural also provided a fabulous backdrop for photos with Belgian dignitaries.

In the end, both the Olympic and Paralympic Games went exceptionally smoothly. They were also excellent for the Belgian image. Our missions and regional bodies, our businesses and our athletes all put their best foot forward. With 10 medals to our name – 3 gold, 1 silver, 6 bronze – our athletes certainly did a great job. At the Paralympics, we even won 14 medals –, 7 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze. And now we look forward to the next Games in Los Angeles in 2028!

Finally, we would like to mention that very few Belgian tourists have registered on our tool that allows you to notify us that you are going abroad. This allows our embassies and consulates to contact you quickly in the event of a crisis. We continue to urge Belgians to register on Travellers Online when travelling abroad. Crises can occur even in supposedly safe areas.