Breaking, freestyle BMX, street and park skateboarding, 3×3 basketball… Paris 2024 has confirmed that the four urban sports events will take place on the prestigious Place de la Concorde, the largest in Paris with its 8.5 hectares. A choice, announced in December 2019, which is in line with the objective of the organizer of the Olympics “to bring urban sport out of traditional stadiums” and “in the heart of the city”.
It is 208 athletes – 104 women and as many men! – who will compete in prowess on the completely redesigned site. This “urban park” at La Concorde will accommodate all disciplines of urban sports, but not only, since events for the general public will also be held there (concerts, cultural exhibitions or other sporting demonstrations). The reception capacity has been programmed at 37,000 spectators per day. In the immediate environment, other sites will be suitable for the Games, such as the Champ-de-Mars, where beach volleyball will take place, the Esplanade des Invalides for archery or the Grand Palais, which will host fencing and taekwondo.
Ephemeral equipment
“The idea is to highlight the Parisian heritage by installing ephemeral and temporary sports equipment that puts sport in the heart of the city while preserving the exceptional architectural, heritage and urbanistic quality of Paris, and particularly of this classified site. , before, during and after the Games ”explains Jean-Philippe Gatien, Executive Director of Sports at the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojo) in Paris 2024.
For the sake of savings, the installations will be completely removable, the project management being provided by Paris 2024 as is the case for all temporary sports equipment. They will then be reused in other Ile-de-France towns, probably in priority in Seine-Saint-Denis. In the fall of 2020, Nicolas Ferrand, boss of the Solideo, which manages the Olympic structures, confirmed that the urban sports equipment would be reinstalled there after the Games, as demanded by the elected officials of the department.
Crisis scenarios
The question of cost – which was not communicated for the development of La Concorde – is at the center of the debates. In a summary relating to the “financial and budgetary governance” of the Games, made public on June 17, the Court of Auditors asked the organizers to provide for crisis scenarios including budget revisions due to the economic uncertainties linked to the pandemic. The layout of the site had also been revised after the reconfiguration made by the Cojo at the end of 2020 at all the Olympic venues. Finally, the climbing wall, which was to be held there, will be installed at Le Bourget (Seine-Saint-Denis).
Athletes
The installation in the heart of the capital seems to delight the athletes. In the Paris 2024 press release, Charlotte Hym, member of the French skateboard team declares, in unison with other sportsmen also cited to promote the project, that “to practice in Paris in the heart of the city, it is the very essence of skateboarding ”. Olympic Day on June 22 and 23, 2019 was already held at Concorde. Two central stages were set up at the foot of the Obelisk to showcase athletics, pentathlon and triathlon.
