The Olympics are very soon. If we needed to be reminded, the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games are fast approaching. As proof, the first Olympic site was delivered this Monday. The Stade Yves-du-Manoir in Colombes, which hosted the opening ceremony of the 1924 Paris Olympics, was presented after 22 months of work. It will host the Field Hockey events next summer.
In total, thirty sites are deployed for the occasion, 24 of which are located in Île-de-France. This Tuesday, Nicolas Ferrand, general director of the Olympic works delivery company (Solideo) assured that the projects were “well on schedule” with the exception of certain housing in the Olympic village, delayed by a few weeks, but which will be available on time all the same. For the rest, 84% of the work is completed. We take stock.
They are already in place, with a few adjustments
Some existing venues will participate in the Olympic Games. Apart from a few details to be arranged, they are already ready to host the Olympics. We can cite Roland-Garros (Tennis and Boxing), the Parc des Princes (Football), the Accor Arena in Bercy (Artistic Gymnastics, Basketball, Trampoline), Paris La Défense Arena (Swimming and Water Polo), ‘Arena Paris Nord, Parc des Expositions de Villepinte (Boxing and modern Pentathlon), the Stade de France (Athletics and Rugby), the Château de Versailles (Horse riding and modern pentathlon), the Golf national de Guyancourt (Golf), the National Vélodrome from Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (BMX and track cycling), Elancourt hill (MTB), etc.
The Olympic Village
Located straddling Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen and l’lle-Saint-Denis, the athletes’ village will be almost complete at the end of December. Only a small part located on Ile-Saint-Denis (around 4% of housing) was a few weeks late but should be ready at the end of February.
Before handing over the keys, a two-month reserve period opens for possible modifications. Then, the organizing committee (Cojo) will develop the 2,800 housing units by providing beds, for example.
The Grand Palace
For this project, which will notably accommodate fencing, “the schedule is extremely tight”. If its delivery is scheduled for April 19 at “Cojo”, there will still be some work afterwards.
Pont Alexandre III and Place des Invalides
A few dozen meters from the Grand Palais, the Alexandre III bridge will also play a major role in the Games. The most beautiful bridge in Paris (according to reviews), it is located on the marathon and road cycling route. But above all, it will be busy from May 17 to prepare for the opening ceremony. A month before, the lawns of Les Invalides will see the installations set up to host the archery and the finish of the marathon.
The Olympic Aquatics Center
Placed opposite the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, the CAO is well advanced and it should be delivered a month in advance. The inauguration date had been set for April 19, 2024 with, again, the handing over of the keys to the organizers, but Solideo is now counting on “end of March 2024”. The 5,000 spectator places planned for the artistic swimming, diving or water polo events, including 2,500 in temporary stands, have been installed, and the first impoundment tests have begun.
For its cousin intended only for training, the Colombes swimming pool, it is more complicated. According to Solideo, the schedule is “very tight” and the end of the work is scheduled for the beginning of June for “handover on June 26”.
Adidas Arena
The Porte de la Chapelle construction site is three months behind schedule in 2022. Also, delivery scheduled for summer 2023 has been set for January 2024, a deadline which will be met. The room, which will notably host badminton events, is almost complete. “The parquet floor has been laid and all the stands are installed,” assures Solideo.
This room will initially be used by the City of Paris, before being handed over to the organizers of the Olympic Games. If a Paris-Basketball match, which will become the resident club after the Olympics, is scheduled for February 11, the handover of the keys to Cojo is scheduled for the end of April.
Temporary sites
Several temporary sites, all located in the heart of Paris, will be installed during the Games. To these, we can add the stands which will welcome the public for the opening ceremony along the Seine which will begin to be erected at the beginning of June on the lower quays and at the beginning of July on the bridges between the Austerlitz and Pont d’Austerlitz bridges. Jena.
Place de la Concorde
Four events are planned around the obelisk: Breaking, Skateboarding, BMX and 3×3 Basketball. The site will be set up from March. This assembly will begin from the east of the square, which has not been released to traffic since the departure of the Rugby Village from the World Cup last September. The project will be deployed gradually throughout the square until June 1st.
Eiffel Tower Stadium, Pont d’Iena and Trocadéro
Intended to host Beach Volleyball, construction of the stadium will begin in March at Place Jacques Rueff. This is the start of the extension of the “Trocadéro – Eiffel – Champs-de-Mars Zone” which will gradually spread over all of the Champs-de-Mars gardens then over the southern part of the Place du Trocadéro via the Pont d’Iena which are part of the Olympic walking and road cycling race routes.
The ephemeral Grand Palais at the end of the Champs-de-Mars, where judo and wrestling will take place, is already there.