Arson attacks disrupt trains in France on day of Olympic opening ceremony

LILLE, France — An apparent arson attack on France’s high-speed rail network early Friday morning disrupted travel for 250,000 people the morning of the Olympic opening ceremony and directly hurt the route designated to transport USA Basketball’s men’s and women’s teams between Paris and Lille, the site of the early games of their tournaments.

The French rail operator SNCF described the fires as “a massive attack on a large scale to paralyze” the rail network, which was “the victim of several simultaneous, malicious acts overnight,” including fires set to train stations.

SNCF said there would be delays and cancellations at least through the weekend “while repairs are conducted,” and said no high-speed trains would operate in Paris until at least Friday afternoon — which will directly impact travel to the opening ceremony, set for 7:30 p.m. local time along the River Seine. The rail company said 800,000 travelers were expected this weekend and it “encourages (passengers) to postpone their trips.” SNCF is offering refunds for canceled trips.

The Paris prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into a series of arson attacks. These crimes carry potential penalties of up to 15 years in prison and fines of €225,000 ($244,000).

Paris Olympic organizers confirmed that one of the lines struck was the northeastern line that connects Lille, a French city on the Belgian border that is hosting the men’s and women’s tournaments in an outdoor soccer stadium, and Paris, where USA Basketball is staying. SNCF said some of the trains along that route would be diverted to slower, conventional lines, with delays of between 90 and 120 minutes, while other trains along that rail line would be canceled.

Gabriel Attal, France’s Prime Minister, issued a statement highlighting the severity of the situation.

“Early this morning, acts of sabotage were carried out on SNCF facilities in a planned and coordinated manner,” he said in a post on X. “The consequences for the rail network are massive and serious.

“I would like to express my gratitude to our firefighters who have responded to the sites affected and to the SNCF staff who will be carrying out the necessary work to restore the network.

“I am thinking of all the French people, all the families, who were preparing to go on holiday. I share their anger and salute their patience, understanding and civic-mindedness.

“Our intelligence services and law enforcement agencies are mobilised to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts.”

“It’s completely appalling,” French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera told BFMTV. “To target the games is to target France.”

IOC president Thomas Bach, who will be part of the opening ceremony later on Friday, has full faith in the authorities in the host city and beyond.

“I don’t have concerns, we have full confidence in the French authorities,” he told the BBC. “All the measures are being taken.

“The French authorities are assisted by 180 other intelligence services around the world. We have good reason to have full confidence.”

USA Basketball’s men’s and women’s teams are the only basketball teams not staying in Lille for the first week of the Olympics. Instead, the delegation rented entire hotels in both cities with plans to practice mostly in Paris and to commute roughly an hour by rail to Lille the night before each game.

A spokeswoman for USA Basketball did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the delegation would change its plans. The U.S. men’s team plays Serbia at 5:15 p.m. local time Sunday, and the women’s team’s first game is against Japan at 9 p.m. local time Monday.

The U.S. women’s team practiced in Lille Thursday evening and was on a 9 o’clock train back to Paris. On Thursday evening, Gare du Nord, Paris’ central train station, had a sizable police presence inside and outside the station, with officers patrolling the perimeter carrying automatic rifles.

It was not immediately known how the attacks would affect the travel of basketball delegations staying in Lille — where a satellite Olympic village was constructed. Canada’s men’s basketball team, which has a roster full of NBA talent, including stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray, is not expected to attend the opening ceremony, per a team source.

Since the addition of NBA stars to the U.S. Olympic team in 1992, USA Basketball athletes have always resided outside of the Olympic Village, for security reasons. The Paris Games were a logistical problem for the U.S. because organizers moved the first week of the tournaments outside of Paris — part of the allure of playing for the NBA All-Stars on Team USA was the chance to play in one of their favorite foreign cities.

For months, USA Basketball executives made trips to France, studying all options for lodging, off-site practices, and transportation. During a 2023 meeting between NBA commissioner Adam Silver and French President Emmanuel Macron, Macron promised government support for the American men’s and women’s teams, including access to private trains for late-night transport back to Paris after each game.

Basketball was moved out of Paris for logistic and political reasons. Paris organizers did not want to build new, massive structures solely for the Olympics, and budget cuts due to COVID-19 further limited construction capabilities. As a result, gymnastics moved into Accor Arena, also known as Bercy Arena, an NBA-style venue that will host the knockout rounds for men’s and women’s basketball, and is the site for NBA games when they are held in Paris.

Organizers ultimately decided to move the first week of basketball to Lille, where they can sell 27,000 seats in a stadium that was the site of the 2015 EuroBasket championship.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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