The 2024 Olympics kick off on Friday, with all eyes on Paris.
But despite 10,000 athletes competing in 329 medal events at the Summer Olympics, the city has built only a few new sports facilities, including a swimming venue, a climbing wall venue, a gymnastics venue and a badminton venue.
Aquatics Centre
The aquatics centre in the Saint-Denis district, a northern Paris suburb, opened in May and is modular, seating 5,000 people during the Olympics but can be converted to 2,500 seats for other events in the future. The venue cost $190 million to build, according to NBC Los Angeles.
The centre, built by Paris-based Bouygues Construction, will host artistic swimming, diving and water polo events this summer and will be open to the local community after the Olympics.
Designed with low-carbon features by Dutch architecture firm VenhoevenCS and French architecture firm Ateliers 2/3/4, the wooden building’s roof is covered with photovoltaic panels, making it one of the largest urban solar power plants in France and providing all the energy the facility needs.
Porte de la Chapelle Arena
Retrieved July 26, 2024 from Paris 2024
The Porte de la Chapelle arena opened in central Paris on February 11. The arena, which will host badminton and rhythmic gymnastics, is the only new venue built in the city center just for the Olympics. The arena cost $150 million to build, according to NBC Los Angeles.
The 8,000-seat arena, designed by French architecture firms SCAU and NP2F and will also host the badminton and powerlifting events at this year’s Paris Paralympics, was constructed by Bouygues Construction.
Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue
Retrieved July 26, 2024 from Paris 2024
The outdoor Le Bourget Sport Climbing venue, located in the Seine-Saint-Denis district and a permanent addition to the Olympics, is designed to host sport climbing, a relatively new Olympic event, and features an indoor warm-up wall and four outdoor walls.
The sport debuted at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as both a men’s and women’s singles event, and according to NBC Sports, there will be two events each for men and women at the Paris Games: a speed event and a combined bouldering and lead event.
The lack of major new construction in Paris marks a departure from previous Olympics: Eight new permanent venues and 10 temporary facilities were constructed in preparation for the 2021 Tokyo Games, which were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
