France has passed the first test with flying colours. The opening ceremony was flawless from a security point of view, something that worries many in Europe and around the world.

The second, the Opening Ceremony, was also a success, demonstrating the values of contemporary French society in an astonishing display involving some 8,000 athletes and more than 300,000 spectators in the stands.

In strictly sporting terms, the public's interest has yet to be fully aroused, except in those disciplines in which French athletes are competing. So far, the trend has been for stadiums to be empty and for tickets to be sold at high prices.

The high price of tickets and the daily cost of living in what is already the most visited city in the world may have taken their toll. Transport costs have doubled and accommodation is exorbitant in an already expensive city.

"This is more expensive than Tokyo; everything costs twice as much. The subway costs four times as much. I can only stay for five days out of the 15 I had planned due to budget constraints," described a Japanese tourist, Sōta, near the Hôtel de Ville, the city hall of Paris.

"I couldn't get tickets for the opening, so I had to go to a bar to see it, but the prices are prohibitive. They wanted up to 12 euros for a beer that costs 4 euros in my country," complained the young man, who couldn't attend the games in his country three years ago because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Traditionally, the Olympic Games attract millions of people to their various events, but this year in Paris the situation is different, at least for now.

There are a lot of tickets available for tournaments, especially the more expensive ones. "I wanted to see Nadal-Alcaraz play the Argentinians in doubles, but it cost me 500 euros, that's almost a salary in Argentina. I'll watch it on TV and try to go to hockey or other cheaper activities. You can't pay these prices; if you want to see several things, it becomes impossible. As for football, they charged 50 for Paraguay-Israel, but it's a match that's not worth it," complained an Argentinian in the Notre Dame neighbourhood.

The fact is that the organising committee put nearly 10 million tickets on sale, but it's unclear how many have been sold. Some say there are only 250,000, others more than a million.

This situation is worrying the organisers, who are hoping for a financial return from ticket sales after investing an estimated 9 billion euros. The organising committee has allowed the initial sale to require a choice of three tickets for different events, so those who have bought some may end up with tickets for events that are of no interest due to low demand.

Tickets can currently be purchased individually on the official website https://tickets.paris2024.org.

Tickets are available at all times of the day for many competitions. U23 football attracts the least interest and has the most tickets available. It's true that stadiums tend to have larger capacities. Many matches are priced at 15 euros, a reasonable price to see top footballers, even if there are few established stars.

This afternoon, tickets were available for many sports other than football, with prices starting at €24 for rugby and sailing, €40 for rowing, €50 for hockey, €50 for water polo and €65 for table tennis. More expensive sports include tennis (from €90), boxing (€100), canoeing (€115) and swimming (€155), among other sports.

The countries that bought the most tickets were France's neighbours. Spain and Italy are the next biggest purchasers after the French, who have bought 60% of the tickets.