“So far, the Games have been a great sporting and organizational success,” said the prefect of the Île-de-France region.

The prefect of the Ile-de-France region, Marc Guillaume, was a guest on “8h30 franceinfo” on Sunday.

“So far the Games have been a huge success,” congratulates, Sunday August 4, on franceinfo Marc Guillaume, prefect of the Île-de-France region. While France has won 41 Olympic medals in more than a week, the prefect of the Île-de-France region speaks of a “sporting success”. He also greets a “organizational success”.

Marc Guillaume recalls that organizing these Games in the city represented a real challenge. It is the equivalent of “40 world championships at the same time, that’s 10 million spectators and an extraordinary opening ceremony”he insists. The prefect of the Region maintains that “so far all this has not posed any major organizational difficulties.”

The prefect also highlights the strong mobilization of supporters who came in jubilation to watch the events on the various sites or in the fan zones. According to Marc Guillaume, “Since the start of the Olympic Games, almost a million people have come to celebrate the Games in the different zones.” For example, he estimates that on Saturday, “nearly half a million people” attended the men’s road cycling race event on the streets of Paris.

Some spectators also follow the events directly from the Club France, located in La Villette. If this party venue can accommodate “20 to 25,000 people at the same time”, in one week, cumulatively, nearly “400,000 people” made the trip. “Heart-warming proportions”confides the prefect. He is very satisfied to see that every evening the French athletes come to celebrate their medals with the public. Marc Guillaume sees this as “a good answer” has “those who doubted this popular festival”.

“We already have 160,000 people who have registered to come and visit the basin” Olympic since the beginning of the Olympic Games, says Marc Guillaume. Registrations to see this attraction at the Tuileries Garden “are complete”even if “sessions have been reopened.” Marc Guillaume did not specify whether or not he was in favour of the Olympic cauldron being kept in place after the Games, assuring that “this decision does not depend” of him. But he assures that “Like all major events of this nature, certain elements of the opening ceremony will remain, the government has said so, the mayor of Paris has wished so.”