France, 2024 Paralympic Games. Soldiers of the Polish Military Contingent OLIMP secure the Paralympics in Paris

The 17th Summer Paralympic Games in Paris will begin on Wednesday and will last until September 8. The Armed Forces of the French Republic are responsible for securing the event, reinforced by the Polish Military Contingent OLIMP (PKW OLIMP). The commander of PKW OLIMP is Lieutenant Colonel Damian Zalewski.

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The involvement of Polish forces was announced on Tuesday afternoon by the Operational Command of the Armed Forces. “Soldiers from PKW OLIMP are responsible for the security of sports infrastructure facilities and areas made available for the needs of the games,” it said.

“The Polish contingent consists of specialized teams with service tracking dogs trained in pyrotechnics, which regularly check designated facilities for the presence of explosive and dangerous objects and materials,” we read.

According to the Polish Army website, the tasks of PKW OLIMP also include advising on the use of service dogs to counteract acts of terrorism and presenting Poland's presence in maintaining and strengthening national security.

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PKW OLIMP consists of soldiers of the 2nd Mazovian Sappers Regiment and the Military Gendarmerie Headquarters with up to 20 soldiers and employees, along with dogs trained in pyrotechnics.

PKW OLIMP soldiers will be stationed in the French Republic from 24 June to 30 September 2024 and at the turn of July and August they were already securing the XXXIII Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

During the Summer Paralympic Games, the Polish team will consist of 84 people (41 women and 43 men), who will compete in 15 disciplines. In total, 4,400 athletes from 182 countries will compete for 549 sets of medals in the 17th edition of this event in 22 disciplines.