Paris Preps Monuments for Olympics

At the foot of Parisian monuments, temporary stadiums are taking shape, with almost a hundred days to go before the Olympic Games get underway on July 26th.

Athletes soon to compete in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower or the Concorde obelisk: at the foot of Parisian monuments, the ephemeral stadiums are taking shape almost a hundred days before the Olympic Games, shaking up the daily life of Parisians.

On one of the lawns of the Esplanade des Invalides, the assembly of the structure which this summer will host the archery events began. A section of the side street is already closed to traffic.

At the foot of the Iron Lady, on the Champ-de-Mars, a temporary stadium - called the Eiffel Tower stadium - has also been being built since the beginning of March. It will host beach volleyball and blind football matches.

Particularly imposing, the structure makes some people frown.

“The sites commission says that it absolutely did not disturb the perspective,” quips Gérard Der Agobian, president of the Les Amis du Champ-de-Mars association, about what he compares to a “building of several floors ".

At the other end of the esplanade, the ephemeral Grand Palais, built in early 2021 to replace the Grand Palais under construction, will house the judo and wrestling events.

On the other side of the Seine, in the Trocadéro gardens, the medal-winning athletes will parade on the Champions Park, also under construction.

And around Place de la Concorde, the largest in Paris, stands have appeared on the eastern part, on the Tuileries garden side.

To provide a setting for the four so-called urban sports (BMX freestyle, three-way basketball, breaking and skateboarding), the obelisk will soon be surrounded by as many small stadiums. The area will be completely closed to traffic from June 1.