On a day Paris Olympic bid leaders wanted to show off the French capital, a knife attack on a soldier raised more security questions about the city's ability to stage the 2024 Games in a safe atmosphere.
News of the attack outside the Louvre Museum on Friday broke hours before bid officials hosted a ceremony near the Eiffel Tower to coincide with the final submission of their 110-page dossier to the International Olympic Committee.
Despite the joyful atmosphere at the Musee de l'Homme, the morning assault, the latest in a wave of attacks that has left more than 200 people dead in the country over the past two years, again highlighted the threat hanging over the country.
In an interview with The Associated Press, a member of French parliament who wrote a report on the fight against terror warned that France will likely be targeted again.
"We are facing a persistent threat, and instability will last for at least one generation," Sebastien Pietrasanta said.
Bid officials, however, claim Paris has the experience to organise and protect major events, often citing soccer's European Championship last year as an example despite troubles caused by hooligans in Marseille and a deadly truck attack in Nice that killed 86 people four days after the tournament final.
"This morning's incident highlighted our security forces' ability to react very quickly," Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said at the bid presentation.
Speaking outside the Louvre after the attack, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who later attended the ceremony alongside athletes and other bid leaders, said all major cities around the globe are under threat.
"In a context of a terror threat hanging over all big cities in the world, we witnessed the efficiency and the relevance of the security measures put in place in Paris," Hidalgo said.
