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venue masterplan for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games has been released, with the intention of cutting costs down by $648 million.
24 of the 32 sports will be within ten kilometers of the Athlete’s Village and will be accessible by public transport, with increased venue sharing also a key premise of the new plan.
The para-table tennis will be moving to the same venue as Olympic table tennis, Arena Paris Stud 4; Para-judo will be moved to Champ de Mars Arena, where Olympic judo is currently held.
Para-swimming and para-taekwondo will also be moved to share venues with their Olympic correspondents.
Two temporary venues, the Olympic Aquatics Stadium and the Le Bourget arena will no longer be required, as well as the Stade Jean-Bouin, leaving seven grounds to be used for football.
Organisers have also pledged increased consideration to the environment and the local community, including Seine-Saint-Denis, after protests from locals regarding the regeneration of the area and being relocated from their home communes.
Seine-Saint-Denis has still received a permanent climbing facility as part of the Paris 2021 legacy project, in which the Paralympic marathon and cycling road race will be held.
The commune will also hold athletics, aquatics, climbing, rugby sevens and shooting events.
After discussion with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and international federations, plans will be submitted to the Paris 2024 board of directors on December 17th in a conference which will also determine the cities that will host football.
Organisers have made an effort to retain all ‘iconic’ venues for the 2024 Olympics.
Elswehere, the China Daily Newspaper reported that the cities of Chengdu and Chongqing are also planning a joint bid for the Olympic Games as early as 2032, after a feasibility study on hosting the event was carried out by Shanghai in 2018.
China Daily cited a government document regarding the bid that read: ‘As part of a national strategy to develop the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, the two cities will bid for the Olympics together to try to host a Games with strong urban and cultural characteristics of the two cities, and to enhance the international influence of the two cities.’
Istanbul has also been linked with a bid; and Chengdu and Chongqing could join Queensland in Australia, Jakarta in Indonesia, Doha in Qatar, Rhein-Ruhr in Germany, and India, as potential 2032 hosts if their bid is formalised.
A joint offer from South and North Korea has also been reported, which is considered to be unlikely given the deterioration of the two nations since the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
