Paris braces for Olympics opening ceremony as rail network ‘sabotaged’

Paris Olympics open with unprecedented ceremony on Seine amid sabotage, security concerns, and high-profile performers.

The Paris Olympics are set to open in a spectacular and unprecedented ceremony on the river Seine on Friday but hours before the show France’s rail network was paralysed by what officials said were acts of sabotage.

The parade on July 26 evening will see up to 7,500 competitors travel down a six-kilometre (four-mile) stretch of the Seine on a flotilla of 85 boats.

But early Friday, French rail operator SNCF said the country’s high-speed network had been targeted by “malicious acts” aimed at paralysing the system.

Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said it was an “outrageous criminal act” and Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera described the attacks as “downright appalling”.

French security forces have warned for months of the danger of attacks aimed at destabilising the Games.

Suspicion will fall on Russia, whose team is banned from Paris in response to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. France is seen as a particular target due to its support for Kyiv.

However, far-left groups within France have a history of targeting the rail network with arson attacks.