The French interior minister announced that about 1,000 people who were suspected of being agents of a foreign power had been barred from the Olympics. This is one of many security measures Paris has taken to ensure the safety of athletes and spectators.

Around 1 million background checks were conducted on Olympic volunteers, employees and other participants in the Games. They also checked those who applied for passes in order to enter the tightest security zone of Paris — the Seine River banks — in advance of Friday’s opening ceremony.

Gerald Darmanin, the Interior Minister, said that about 5,000 people were prevented from attending. Darmanin stated that “of those, we suspect 1,000 of spying or foreign interference.”

Darmanin has pointed out that there are suspicions about Russian interference. He is continuing in a caretaker position until a new cabinet is formed after the legislative elections held this month, which denied the centrist coalition of President Emmanuel Macron a majority.

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Darmanin stated, “We are here to ensure… that sports is not used for spying or cyberattacks. Or to criticize France and the French and even to lie about them.”

He said that “interfering with and manipulating the information” does not come only from Russia, but also from other countries, which he didn’t name. He did not provide any more details on the suspected interference.

He said: “That’s the reason we’re alert and want them to understand that we’re not ignorant.”

Darmanin reported that other people were blocked from attending the Olympics following background checks because of suspicions about radicalization to Islam, political extremism on either side, criminal records, and other security concerns.

“We didn’t like the idea of these people being stadium stewards or volunteers, nor that they accompanied (sports teams). “5,000 people out of a million is not much, but it shows how hard the Interior Ministry works,” he said.

Paris will deploy 35,000 police officers every day during the Olympics. The Games run from Friday, August 11 to Sunday, August 12. A peak of 45,000 will be deployed for the Opening Ceremony. Additional 10,000 soldiers take part in security operations throughout the Paris region.

France is also receiving help from over 40 countries, who have all sent together at least 1,900 police reinforcements.

Darmanin stated that “we are of course particularly protective of the Ukrainian Team, which is clearly under significant threat.”

Interior Minister had said that Israeli athletes will be protected by the elite police unit GIGN 24 hours a days. GIGN is responsible for counterterrorism, protection of government officials and other duties.

Darmanin also praised tens-of-thousands of police officers and firefighters, bomb disposal specialists, intelligence services agents, and private security personnel for their security work.

Darmanin wrote to them in a note that “the largest event a country could organize is finally” here, after four years of planning. He also noted the unprecedented challenges for security.

Darmanin wrote in a letter that was posted late Monday on social media platform X, “Your task won’t be easy.” Paris has been the victim of numerous deadly attacks by extremists, and tensions on the international stage are high due to wars in Ukraine or Gaza.

Olympic organizers have also expressed concerns about cyberattacks, and rights activists and Games critics worry about Paris’ AI-equipped surveillance technologies and the vast scope and scale of Olympic Security that they fear will remain in place after the Olympics.

Instead of building an Olympic Park with venues clustered outside the city center like Rio de Janeiro did in 2016 or London 2012, Paris chose to host most of the events right in the middle of its bustling capital with 2 million residents, and others scattered around the suburbs with millions of more.

These protections are made more complicated by the placement of temporary sports venues in public areas and the staging of the opening ceremony on the Seine.