The organizers presented, Thursday, the program of test events in order to prepare the reception of the public and the infrastructures of the Paris Olympics 2024, 477 days from the opening ceremony.
Now 477 days from the opening ceremony, the organizers of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games presented the program of test events on Thursday April 6. These dates always represent an important point of passage for experimenting, in particular, the Olympic infrastructures, whether built for the occasion or already existing.
“The Organizing Committee has chosen to develop a program of tests adapted to the main risks, explained Edouard Donnelly, the executive director of operations for Paris 2024. The fireworks will not take place this summer during the test-events.
Concretely, there will be three different categories of events: those organized by Paris 2024, those organized by another entity with the help of Paris 2024 and operational tests with a restricted perimeter and without spectators.
Twelve events accessible to the public
A total of twelve events will be scheduled and accessible to the public. The first will take place in Marseille, from July 9 to 16, for the sailing test event. However, for this competition, access will be restricted due to work on the marina. The other highlights of the test-events will mainly take place in August. The Alexandre III bridge in Paris will host a round of the open water swimming World Cup (August 5 and 6) and an international triathlon and para triathlon event (August 17 to 20). A stage of the Archery World Cup at Invalides (August 19 and 20) and the World Surf League at Teahupo’o, in Tahiti (August 11 to 20), are also on the program.
The Vaires-sur-Marne site, inaugurated in 2019, will be put to use since it will host three events including a canoe-kayak and para-canoe World Cup round (August 30 to September 1) then the canoe finals slalom (October 5 to 8). To test different sites, the Organizing Committee has also decided to rely on national competitions, like the French youth golf championships, at the Golf national de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (July 26 to 27 ).
Finally, most of the work will concern operational tests which will not host competitions as such. For example, the Grand Palais, under construction since March 2021, will be requisitioned in August to test fencing, taekwondo and para taekwondo. The first operational tests in the new hall, the Arena Porte de la Chapelle, will begin in March 2024.
The last tests are scheduled for June 2024, less than two months from the opening ceremony and will focus on the Le Bourget climbing site, the Stade de France and the Arena Paris-La Défense.
