Security is tight and a hot topic for the Summer Olympic Games organisers, as police have been thorough in preventing all kinds of possible attacks; most noticeably on the flame as it edges closer towards Paris, with 63 days to go until the opening ceremony on the river Seine, a high-risk situation that will demand maximum effort and focus from all involved forces.

Fearing an attack on Thursday, local authorities arrested a 26-year-old man ahead of  the relay procession in Bordeaux, officials said. "An individual planning a violent act during the Olympic torch relay in Bordeaux has been questioned," Darminin said on X, the former Twitter.

An investigation into the individual, identified as Alex G., ensued after alerts to France's online extremism watchdog detected posts referring to a 2014 mass killing in California. The man, who was arrested on Tuesday, appeared before an investigating magistrate on Thursday. Prosecutors requested an investigation for "criminal conspiracy and justification of crime".

The Olympic torch went through the southwestern city as part of a nationwide tour ahead of the Olympics that open on 26 July. Bordeaux will host several football matches in the Olympic tournament. The whole relay is surrounded by strict security, which has been a constant cause of concern for Paris 2024 organisers: especially regarding the torch, as it travels through more than 450 French towns and cities and passes by dozens of tourist attractions, including the Mont Saint Michel. Around 200 members of the security forces are set to be positioned permanently around it, including an anti-terror SWAT team and anti-drone operatives.

Last Saturday, France’s prime minister Gabriel Attal announced that the Olympic flame will not be passing through New Caledonia on 11 June after several days of rioting and deadly violence in the overseas archipelago that French authorities are trying to simmer down.

Darmanin has referred to the risk of protests, including from far-left groups or environmental activists such as Extinction Rebellion. Organisers have promised a "spectacular" and "iconic" Olympics, with much of the sporting competitions set to take place in temporary venues around the City of Light, including at the Eiffel Tower and the Invalides.

After Thursday’s arrest, the prosecutor recommended Alex G. be remanded in custody after he admitted to considering carrying out an attack, AFP reported . "No reference was made to the Olympic torch," Bordeaux prosecutor Frederique Porterie said in a press statement.

According to a police source, Alex G. shared a video clip featuring Elliot Rodger, who killed six people and himself in a 2014 rampage in California, writing, "we miss you, Elliot". Police seized "a revolver, a rubber bullet gun, several cell phones, and a computer" during a search of the suspect's house in a Bordeaux suburb.

The prosecutor said people close to the suspect say he is "psychologically very fragile. However, the appointed psychiatrist has not revealed any particular disorder". Initial investigations showed an interest in the incel movement, an online group of women-hating men who describe themselves as "involuntarily celibate", Porterie added.

The torch’s origin traces back to the ancient Olympics, when a sacred flame burned throughout the Games. The Paris Olympics will run from 26 July until 11 August, followed by the Paralympics from 28 August ending on 8 September.