Don't come for the Olympics, Parisians plead on TikTok

Videos from residents highlight transport chaos, surge pricing, among other woes

PARIS "This is a video for anyone that's coming to Paris Olympics 2024," a woman says in a clip posted to TikTok. She pauses briefly, and then continues: "Don't come.

Cancel everything." The video, which was uploaded in November, now has more than 700,000 views.

The creator, Ms Miranda Starcevic, is a 31-year-old French American who lives in Paris. She usually records herself speaking in French, but thought a message about the Olympics would reach more people if it were in English.

And Ms Starcevic wanted her viewers to know that from her perspective, of French citizens who "are kind of middle class", as she put it: "Nobody wants the Olympic Games. It's just a hot mess." As a visual-first international platform with many young users, TikTok is full of Olympics content.

But in addition to feel-good windows into athletes' lives and promotional videos from organisers and sponsors, there are also unfiltered clips from residents warning potential visitors that Paris may not deliver its best during the Games.

A 24-year-old student whose display name is Leo Nora has posted several short clips about the Paris Games, stating they will be "dangerous" and "hell on earth".

In one of her videos, she says into the camera: "If you are planning on coming to Paris for the Olympic Games, why? Do not come. Do not come!" The clip has been viewed more than a million times.

"I've lived in Paris my whole life," Ms Leo Nora said in an interview.