With 26 competition venues, 370 km of streets transformed into Olympic and Paralympic circuits and almost fifty celebration sites, the Olympiad XXIII is transforming Grand Paris into an enormous sports ground.
The great majority of competition venues are concentrated in two zones: the central area of Paris with the temporary transformation of major heritage sites and the Paris Seine-Saint-Denis urban development area around the Olympic Village. This means that many events are held within a radius of 10 km, which is completed by a sports hub to the west in the vicinity of Versailles and Saint-Quentin en Yvelines and to the east at Vaires-sur-Marne.
With the wish to enhance what already exists, many historical sites have been transformed into temporary stadiums such as the Grand Palais (fencing, taekwondo, para-taekwondo, wheelchair fencing), Les Invalides (archery, para-archery), Champ-de-Mars at the foot of the Eiffel Tower (beach volleyball, blind football, para-judo, wheelchair rugby), Place de la Concorde (breaking, 3x3 basketball), the Seine hosts the triathlon and marathon swimming events and the Château de Versailles Gardens horseriding and para-horseriding.
This objective is combined with the use of major metropolitan sports facilities: the Stade de France (athletics, rugby), Roland-Garros Stadium (tennis, boxing, wheelchair tennis), Parc des Princes (football), the National Velodrome (track cycling, para-cycling), the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines National Golf Course (golf), Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium (canoeing sprint, rowing, slalom canoeing, para-canoeing, para-rowing), Paris La Défense Arena for swimming, and a hundred years after being the main venue of the 1924 Olympic Games, the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium in Colombes is where field hockey events will take place.
These venues are complemented by a number of new sites built for the Olympiad: the Olympic Aquatic Centre (artistic swimming, diving, water-polo), the Adidas Arena (badminton, rhythmic gymnastics, para-badminton, para-weightlifting), the Bourget climbing site (sport climbing), and also the development of Terrain des Essences in La Courneuve (para-marathon) and the Colline d’Élancourt (mountain bike) in the Yvelines. These open-air events, as well as races, road cycling or triathlon in particular, offer the general public free access to competitions with no entrance tickets.
To enable everyone to take part in this great festivity, numerous celebration sites have been organised for people to experience the Games. Le Club France 2024 set up in Parc de la Villette (Paris, 19) hosting sports activities and a “live site”. The Central Pride House taking up residence at Rosa Bonheur sur Seine (Paris, 7), joining the iconic sites of the City and offering sports and cultural activities specifically linked to the Games: Académie du Climat (Paris Centre), Fabrique de la Solidarité (Paris Centre), Maison des Canaux (Paris, 19), Cité audacieuse (Paris, 6), Quartier Jeunes (Paris Centre). Other emblematic sites like the Departmental Georges-Valbon Park and Saint-Denis Canal in Seine-Saint-Denis complete the panorama.
The organisation of venues for these events and celebrations reflects the desire that the whole Metropolis experience the rhythm of the event. The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games along the River Seine with the passage of 10,500 athletes on 94 boats on a 6 km journey of spectacular shows symbolises this ambition.