The Executive Bureaue of the Paris 2024 bid committee have unanimously approved the choice of site for the Aquatic Centre that they will put forth in their bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The proposed aquatic facility will be new-built in the Saint-Denis suburb, approximately 6 miles north of the centre of Paris and close to the existing Stade de France that will serve as the Olympic Stadium in the bid.
The Stade de France was built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup (soccer/football), and will undergo a renovation before the 2024 Olympics, if Paris is successful in their bid.
The proposed aquatic facility would be 15,000 and reduced to 2,500 after the games, and have two 50m swimming pools, plus 2 additional pools for diving.
Unlike the Rio facility, the facility in Paris would be a permanent facility, following the London model of building large temporary grand-stands and then reducing capacity after the Olympics.
The pool would host swimming, synchronized swimming, and diving during the Olympics and would connect by sky-bridge to the Stade de France and be within three minutes of the athletes’ village, creating a dense center of competition.
Water polo competition will be hosted elsewhere.
“The site of La Plaine Saulnier in the cosmopolitan suburb of Saint-Denis offers many advantages for the Paris 2024 bid. The new, state-of-the-art facility will be a spectacular venue for Olympic sport providing optimal conditions for world class performances and a fantastic atmosphere for fans watching in the arena and those watching on TV and digital platforms around the world.
“The new venue’s close proximity to the Stade de France and the Athletes’ Village enhances the compactness of the Paris 2024 bid with great accessibility for athletes, spectators and media. The new Olympic sports hub will serve as central pillar in the Saint-Denis community bringing even more Olympic sport to the city, further embedding Olympism in everyday life in Paris and creating a strong legacy for the youth population.
“Paris 2024 will be spectacular Games of style and substance and a wonderful celebration of Olympic sport. The new Aquatics Centre is a symbol of Paris’ creativity and dynamism strengthening sport’s role in society across the city – we are thrilled that plans for all of the proposed Paris 2024 venues are now laid out in full.”
Francis Luyce, the president of the French Swimming Federation, believes that the facility would become a focal point of international swimming after the Olympics.
“France is a leading Swimming nation and the new Aquatics Centre will be fantastic Olympic venue and a wonderful asset after the Games allowing us to host world class Swimming competitions. The venue will also play a very important role in the community of Saint-Denis providing all citizens with greater access to top class facilities.”
Paris is one of four finalists for the right to host the 2024 Olympics, bidding against Budapest, Hungary; Los Angeles, USA; and Rome, Italy. The winner will be announced in September 2017 at the IOC session in Lima, Peru. Paris is the first bid to publicly announce their specific plans for an aquatics center.
