Paris's socialist mayor has blasted the "extreme right" in an extraordinary English-language rant against criticism of her Olympics organising.
Against her press officer's best wishes, Anne Hidalgo launched into the f-word-laden tirade as the Games appeared to exceed pre-event expectations - marred, in particular, by concerns over athletes swimming in the River Seine.
The Spanish-born mayor, 65, fired off expletives at right-wing critics in an interview with French outlet Le Monde, saying: "F*** reactionaries, f*** the extreme right, f*** all those who want to shut us in a war of everyone against everyone."
But alongside the rant, Hidalgo backed Paris and its people.
Paris's mayor blasted the "extreme right" in the extraordinary English-language rant
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She continued: "When there is a shared feeling of fraternity, sorority, of humanism... we Parisians, we French people, are proud."
Opponents had warned that foreigners visiting the French capital would be disappointed with what it had to offer - and raised fears that the City of Lights was not all it was made out to be under Hidalgo's leadership - while hordes of locals had fled the city ahead of the Olympics.
And they looked to have been proven right on the Games' opening day when a "far-left or Russian" arson attack" on France's rail networks paralysed travel across the country.
Then, Hidalgo was forced to swim in Paris's river herself to stave off claims it would be unsafe for Olympic use - prompting Parisians to plan a "s**t flashmob" in the Seine.
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Hidalgo was forced to swim in the Seine to stave off safety concerns
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But despite notable rows over gender and drag acts at the opening ceremony, the Games have been well-received by residents and visitors alike - some of whom were seen lauding Hidalgo on the banks of the Seine this week.
She continued to Le Monde: "Our vision... has been contradicted, contested, mocked, caricatured. It is a great pleasure to see the city the way we had planned it and to hear people thank us."
But the socialist mayor, whose full name is Ana María Hidalgo Aleu, claimed negative comments had been orchestrated by a "reactionary and extreme-right planet" which fomented "hatred" for Paris.
Hidalgo claimed the "extreme right" had lashed out at Paris because it was the city "of all freedoms, the refuge for LGBTQI+... a city that has a left-wing woman mayor, and what is more of foreign origin and with dual nationality and an ecologist and feminist to boot".
Hidalgo said she wanted to keep the Olympic flame balloon in place in the centre of the city
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Though her prospects of winning a third term in 2026's Paris mayoral election had looked all but lost ahead of the games, the landmark sporting event appears to have sparked bullish fervour in Hidalgo.
She lambasted "those who were explaining only a short while ago: 'She's dead, she's finished, she's over.'"
And in another sign she wanted to maintain the Games' legacy in the French capital, she told France 2 television yesterday that she wanted to keep the Olympic flame balloon in place in the centre of the city.
Hidalgo said it was not her decision to make, as the Louvre and Tuileries are state property, but added she had written to President Emmanuel Macron, asking for the flame to remain in place and not be moved to another location.
