The Stade de France will serve as the Olympic Stadium during Paris 2024.
CNN —
There’s a lot happening in Paris this summer.
The Olympic Games are coming to the French capital and homes have been found for all 32 sporting disciplines.
Many of the venues existed before the Games – the only permanent sports facility built for the Olympics is the Aquatics Center, which will welcome the artistic swimming, water polo and diving events. There will also be various temporary arenas and stands, with several being built around famous landmarks.
While there are a handful of sporting venues in different parts of France – and even further afield – Paris is hosting a fairly compact Games, with the majority of the facilities located within a five-kilometer (3.1-mile) radius of the Olympic Village in the north of the city. Fans will be able to walk or cycle between the sites, or get around via Paris’ well-connected metro system.
In a totally unique event, the Opening Ceremony will be held along the Seine River, marking the first time that the ceremony has not taken place inside a stadium.
An empty boat travels the Seine and past the Eiffel Tower during the technical test event for the Opening Ceremony.
The famous Parade of Nations – which typically features national delegations of athletes entering the Olympic Stadium on foot – will take place on the Seine itself, with boats carrying the 10,500 athletes through the center of the city.
Not just tourist hotspots
With several spectacular attractions around the city, it is no surprise that the Paris 2024 organizers opted to host certain events in full view of some the capital’s most recognizable sites.
Fans may have to tear themselves away from the Eiffel Tower when going to watch the beach volleyball event as the iconic landmark will sit next to the newly-constructed open-air stadium at the Champ de Mars.
The view from the Eiffel Tower of the beach volleyball arena and the Champ de Mars.
Another stunning venue is the famous Palace of Versailles. Once home to the nation’s monarchy before the French revolution, the Château will now crown sporting royalty in the equestrian and modern pentathlon events.
Archery will take place at the Esplanade des Invalides, a huge open-air green space that will also serve as the finish line of the marathon. The Esplanade is located on the north side of the impressive Hôtel des Invalides, which contains museums and monuments relating to French military history, a hospital and a retirement home for veterans, as well as the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte.
It seems as though event organizers have made use of every available public space and morphed them into areas capable of hosting an Olympic event, with the transformation of the Place de la Concorde into a hub for urban sports among the most eye-catching.
The famous public square will “enable urban sports to become established in their natural environment, away from stadiums, at the heart of the city,” per Olympics.com. Breaking, the newest Olympic sport, will take place at La Concorde and will share the area with 3x3 basketball, skateboarding and freestyle BMX.
Construction work begins in April at the Urban Park site at the Place de la Concorde.
Sporting pedigree
The City of Light also already possesses a selection of permanent sporting venues that will be put to use during the Olympics. The Stade de France is the home of the country’s national soccer and rugby teams and is no stranger to international sporting or cultural events. It is one of only two stadiums to host both the soccer and rugby World Cup finals and staged the UEFA Champions League final in 2002, 2006 and 2022.
It will become the Olympic Stadium for the duration of the Games, welcoming track and field (athletics) and rugby sevens.
Southwest of the arena is the Stade Roland Garros. Named after the famed French aviator, the complex is home to 18 clay tennis courts which are annually used for the French Open, one of the sport’s four grand slams. Olympic tennis will naturally take place here, but its centerpiece – Court Philippe Chatrier – will also play host to boxing bouts.
Court Philippe-Chatrier is one of the world's most iconic tennis arenas.
Soccer will cover the most ground of any sport at the Games, with matches being held in seven different stadiums across the country. Located in the heart of Paris, though, is the famed Parc des Princes, one of the host venues for the ‘Beautiful Game.’ Home to 12-time Ligue 1 champion Paris Saint-Germain, the stadium has previously hosted World Cup and European Championship fixtures.
Away from the city
Though the majority of events will be concentrated inside Paris or on its perimeter, a handful of sports will be held away from the capital.
While most athletes will be dealing with the hustle and bustle of city life and the arrival of thousands of Olympics fans, the surfers competing at Paris 2024 are heading to a remote island paradise.
The entirety of the surfing competition will take place in Tahiti, the largest island in the overseas collectivity of French Polynesia. Located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean over 9,000 miles away from Paris, Tahiti will welcome surfers from all over the world who will attempt to conquer the infamous Teahupo’o wave.
Teahupo'o is regarded as one of the most fearsome waves in the world.
Often referred to as the “The End of the Road,” Teahupo’o is known for its picturesque setting but also the danger it poses due to the shallow reef below the immense wave.
Olympic sailors will not be venturing quite as far, but with Paris being located inland and away from the coastline, the seaside city of Marseille on mainland France’s southern coast has been selected to host the event. The Roucas-Blanc Marina will be adapted for the competition, with the coastal configuration and constant winds ensuring “ideal tactical and strategic conditions for the competitors.”
The city will also host soccer matches at the Marseille Stadium (also known as the Stade Vélodrome) alongside the Parc de Princes and arenas in Bordeaux, Saint-Étienne, Lyon, Nantes and Nice.
Every venue at the Olympics by sport
Archery: Esplanade des Invalides
Artistic gymnastics: Bercy Arena
Artistic swimming: Aquatics Center
Athletics: Stade de France (Olympic Stadium)
Badminton: Porte de la Chapelle Arena
Basketball: Pierre Mauroy Stadium (Lille), Bercy Arena
3x3 basketball: La Concorde
Beach volleyball: Eiffel Tower Stadium
BMX freestyle: La Concorde
BMX racing: Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines BMX Stadium (Montigny-le-Bretonneux)
Boxing: North Paris Arena, Stade Roland-Garros
Breaking: La Concorde
Canoe slalom and sprint: Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium
Cycling (Mountain Bike): Elancourt Hill
Cycling (Road): Esplanade des Invalides, Pont Alexandre III, Trocadéro
Cycling (Track): Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome
Diving: Aquatics Center
Equestrian: Palace of Versailles
The temporary infrastructure under construction at the Parc du Châteaude Versailles, in Versailles.
Fencing: Grand Palais
Field hockey: Yves du Manoir Stadium
Golf: Golf National
Handball: Pierre Mauroy Stadium, South Paris Arena
Judo: Champ de Mars Arena
Marathon swimming: Pont Alexandre III
Modern pentathlon: North Paris Arena, Palace of Versailles
Rhythmic gymnastics: Porte de La Chapelle Arena
Rowing: Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium
Rugby sevens: Stade de France (Olympic Stadium)
Sailing: Marseille Marina
Sailors leave the Roucas-Blanc marina in Marseille.
Shooting: Châteauroux Shooting Center
Skateboarding: La Concorde
Soccer: Bordeaux Stadium, Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium (Saint-Étienne), La Beaujoire Stadium (Nantes), Lyon Stadium, Marseille Stadium, Nice Stadium, Parc de Princes
Sport climbing: Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue
Surfing: Teahupo’o (Tahiti)
Swimming: Paris La Défense Arena
Table Tennis: South Paris Arena
Taekwondo: Grand Palais
Tennis: Stade Roland-Garros
Trampoline: Bercy Arena
Triathlon: Pont Alexandre III
Volleyball: South Paris Arena
Water polo: Aquatics Center, Paris La Défense Arena
The Aquatics Center has been newly constructed for the Olympics.
Weightlifting: South Paris Arena
Wrestling: Champ de Mars Arena
