With just six months to go until the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the pressure is on to have everything ready in time, from construction and logistics to security and transportation, as the Games’ organisers look forward to welcome athletes from all over the globe to France in three years.
Three-time gold medallist in canoe slalom, Tony Estanguet, the head of Paris 2024, commended all those associated with the Tokyo Games for successfully organising the tournament despite a worldwide epidemic.
On Sunday, Estanguet touted his team’s intentions to host their first Summer Games since 1924 as the Olympic flag was flown from Tokyo to Paris.
“We are ready as we head into the final phase,” Estanguet told a press conference in Paris, five days from the opening ceremony next Friday.
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“For as long as the closing ceremony hasn’t finished, we need to remain vigilant. But today we are exactly where we would have dreamed of being a few years ago.”
The contests will take place at well-known locations such as the Palace of Versailles, Champs de Mars, Place de la Concorde, and Les Invalides, among other well-known locations. The Paris bid was chosen in 2017.
“Every host city must bring something new and contribute to the evolution of the Games,” stated Estanguet.
“Every host city must bring something new and contribute to the evolution of the Games,” Estanguet said.
“With Paris 2024, our ambition is to offer a new model to open the Games to more people. This starts with offering the Games to the city.
“Our plan is based on taking sport out of its traditional spaces and putting competitions at the heart of the city, in front of the most famous Parisian landmarks; the Eiffel Tower for beach volleyball, wrestling and judo, and equestrian at the Chateau de Versailles.
“The ambition is simple: invite the world, including the hundreds of millions of viewers, into the very heart of Paris.”