CNA Correspondent Podcast: A dirty river and doping scandals - The road to the Paris Olympics 2024

Host city Paris promises a sporting spectacle at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games but faces challenges ranging from a dirty river Seine and sweltering weather to doping scandals and terrorism threats.

Arnold Gay speaks to Paris correspondent Ross Cullen as the French capital begins its 30-day countdown to the Games.

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Here's an excerpt from the podcast:

Arnold Gay:
A big question about the River Seine - is that still going to be the location for the opening ceremony as it stands?  

Ross Cullen: 
Yes. I mean there is a plan B and a plan C. Plan B to hold the opening ceremony in a static location near the Eiffel Tower, and plan C potentially in the Stade de France. But the whole idea about the river was not to have it in a stadium for the first time ever. Paris 2024 will be the first Olympics where the opening ceremony is not held in a stadium. The argument by the organisers was that you could only get maybe 80,000 people in a national stadium. How many of those are going to be dignitaries? How many athletes? How many people would actually be able to see it? ... Holding it in a six kilometre long stretch of river in the middle of a city centre should open it up to hundreds of thousands of people potentially. It's a huge security threat, and we can maybe come onto that later. But in terms of the planning, they are hoping to have some 80 barges with every team. Team Singapore, Team USA, Team GB for Britain, all travelling down the river, going downstream to end up underneath the Eiffel Tower. So it should be spectacular. It is very challenging, very risky, but that is what they are planning to do at the moment.  

Arnold Gay:
Okay, safe to boat on obviously but will the sand be safe enough to get into,