Amid the buzz of the 2024 Olympics, organizers and officials at Paris City Hall on Sunday inaugurated the French capital’s first and only purpose-built venue for this summer’s Games, located in a multicultural working-class neighborhood.
The Adidas Arena in Porte de la Chapelle, one of the poorest areas of Paris, will be ready and ‘operational’ about five months before the Games start, officials said. It is being touted as a demonstration of the city’s willingness and commitment to both the global sports community and its residents. .
The venue will host badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events during the 2024 Olympic Games and is expected to be part of wider efforts to revitalize local communities. For the Paralympic Games, athletes will also participate in badminton and weightlifting events.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said on Sunday she was proud that an area once described as a no-go zone was now starting to transform. Before people mock us,” she said. Change is possible.’
The inauguration is a milestone, given the problems that dogged its construction. The facility, which cost about 138 million euros ($150 million) and required 1,500 tons of steel, required organizers to source materials from alternative sources amid supply problems caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Officials say it is also a symbol of the city’s desire to host sustainable games, built with recycled materials and wood and featuring a green roof. It will also be the first arena of its kind in France with a sensory room for people suffering from cognitive disorders.
The venue, which has been dubbed the Adidas Arena through a lucrative partnership worth around 2.8 million euros ($3 million) a year with the sportswear brand, can accommodate up to 8,000 spectators for a range of sporting events and live performances.
It will also be home to the Paris Basketball Club. Two gymnasiums next to the site will provide sports facilities that are desperately needed in the neglected community, according to city hall. In recent years, the site has been home to hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers living in squalid conditions in makeshift camps that are regularly cleared by police.
Organizers of the Games opted not to build as many purpose-built buildings as in previous Games in other host cities. Other major construction work for 2024 includes the Olympic Village, which will house around 15,000 athletes and officials, and the swimming pool, both technically located outside Paris in a suburb north of the city.
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First print: February 12, 2024 | 8:50 am IST