● From our sister site, TheSportsExaminer.com ●
It seemed as if all of Paris was a celebration zone during the Olympic Games. Cheering erupted in cars on the Paris Metro whenever France won a race or scored a goal, courtesy of people who could cling to a pole and look at their phones at the same time.
There were also official fan zones which attracted an impressive 1.5 million people in Paris alone for the Olympics. Many of these zones will re-open for the Paralympics.
The Clubs 2024 or “Terre de Jeux 2024” is a network of more than 180 clubs throughout France from the smallest town, Méral-en-Mayenne (population 1,098 in 2021), to Paris itself, with about 40 clubs in the Ile-de-France region. Every arrondissement except the 7th is represented in the 26 sites operated by the City of Paris. These free sites opened before the Olympic Games and will close Sept. 8. They are accessible and practice sustainability.
Additional clubs during the Olympics were located in French Polynesia, Guadeloupe and Reunion Island. The programs include sports and cultural activities, live screenings of competitions on large screens, mascot meetings and chances to try out different sports, such as a climbing wall, basketball and table tennis.
One of the most impressive Club 2024 sites is located in the forecourt of the Hotel de Ville, the city hall of Paris. The “Terrasse des Jeux” attracted nearly 25,000 people a day, “an attendance figure that exceeded our expectations,” Pierre Rabadan, deputy mayor in charge of sports at Paris City Hall, told the French daily, Le Monde.
The innovative Parc des Champions, or Champions Park, with a capacity of 13,000, operated over nine different days during the Olympic Games. It was designed by the Paris 2024 Athletes’ Commission, chaired by Martin Fourcade, the French five-time Olympic gold medalist biathlete, and built at the Trocadero with a full view of the Eiffel Tower.
According to the Paris 2024 Press Office, the park “has been full each day it has been open,” and had 26,000 on its first day. Attendance was free, but spectators often waited in long lines to get in.
Several hundred athletes participated, from newly-minted medal winners in Paris to the U.S. and Japanese figure skaters who were finally awarded their medals from the 2022 Beijing Winter Games on 7 August.
The athletes, said a press office spokesperson, “are very infatuated with this brand new concept.”
While the Champions Park will not be used for the Paralympics, other celebration zones will spring back into action.
Those include what Olympics.com calls “the beating heart of Team France.” That’s Club France, which was one of the hottest tickets of the Olympic Games. As one of 15 nations with “houses” in the Nations Park at the Parc de la Villette in northern Paris, Club France had the most buzz.
There was a nominal entry cost of €5 for the Olympics, but it will be free for the Paralympics with registration. Other countries participating during the Olympics included Brazil, Colombia, South Africa, Canada, India, the Netherlands and Slovakia. Only Casa Colombia and Team NL will join Club France for the Paralympics.
According to Paris 2024, more than 30,000 ticket holders and guests attended Club France each day during the Olympics for a grand total of about 600,000. It will reopen on 29 August, the day after the Paralympic opening ceremony. With capacity for the Paralympics at 15,000, it is reportedly already completely booked for 31 August.
For the Paralympics, organizers will dismantle the outdoor lawns and the perimeter of Club France will be concentrated around the Grande Halle. In another departure, all French athletes are expected to appear, not just those who have won a medal.
Élie Patrigeon, General Manager of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee, told Olympics.com that the “target is to welcome between 100,000 and 120,000 spectators between August 28 and September 8.”
Club France will also welcome international athletes via the Pride House, which will be added to the site for the Paralympics.
~ Karen Rosen
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