On April 14, stadium stands are being built on the Champ de Mars, a grassy plaza in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Champ de Mars Stadium will host beach volleyball and soccer for the visually impaired at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games./AP Yonhap News
In front of the Eiffel Tower, the symbol of Paris, France, there is a large green square called ‘Champs de Mars’. When I visited this place on the morning of the 16th, it was surrounded in many places by metal fences and temporary buildings. This is to install a temporary beach volleyball stadium before the opening of the Paris Olympics, which is 100 days away. Paris Vice Mayor Pierre Labardin, who was in charge of Olympic preparations, said, “The dynamic scenes of beach volleyball players playing with the Eiffel Tower in the background will be broadcast around the world. “
This year’s Paris Olympics will use famous venues across the city as stadiums. The opening ceremony is held on the River Seine rather than a large stadium, and fierce competitions are held in dozens of major sports, including track and field, archery, and wrestling, against the backdrop of Paris city squares, exhibition halls, parks, and historic buildings. In Seoul, the opening ceremony will be held on the Han River, and the world’s best athletes will compete in Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanghwamun Square, and under the Seoul Tower. The Paris Olympic Organizing Committee aims to create an environmentally friendly Olympic Games by reducing the construction of new stadiums and reducing carbon emissions, and also aims to have a huge tourism promotion effect by showing the views of different parts of Paris through the broadcasting of the Olympic Games, which attracts attention from all over the world.
Graphics = Kim Seong-gyu
◇ Skateboard competition in Revolution Square
At Place de la Concorde, four sports are held: 3-on-3 basketball, breakdancing, BMX freestyle, and skateboarding. A temporary stadium complex is currently under construction. This is the largest square in Paris, a square that symbolizes France and still preserves the bloody history of the French Revolution. Its original name was ‘Place Louis XV’, and it became ‘Place des Revolutions’ after his grandson Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were executed here. It received its current name, which means ‘harmony’ and ‘unity’, in 1795, six years after the start of the French Revolution. It is also the name of a supersonic passenger plane. An obelisk taken from the Temple of Ramses in Egypt stands in the center of the square. The organizing committee explained, “From the stage of hosting the Olympic Games, we dreamed of hosting urban sports games in the heart of the city,” and “Concorde is the place to make this happen.”
Beach volleyball, judo, and wrestling will be held in two temporary stadiums with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Beach volleyball is held in the ‘Stade Tour Eiffel’ near the tower, which can hold around 13,000 people. It’s an open stadium without a ceiling, so you can enjoy a panoramic view of the Eiffel Tower throughout the game. At the other end is the 10,000㎡ (about 3,025 pyeong) ‘Grand Palais Effimer’ exhibition hall. This place will be transformed into a judo and wrestling stadium and renamed the ‘Arena Champs de Mars.’ Both of these buildings will be demolished immediately after the Olympics. The city of Paris said, “The Chad Mars Arena was built using wood and fabric, and the Stade Tour Eiffel was also built with recycling materials in mind,” emphasizing that it is an ‘eco-friendly’ rather than ‘disposable’ construction. one.
◇ Dress up with the Palace of Versailles in the background
The Château de Versailles, which represents the splendor and majesty of the absolute monarchy of France, is building a modern pentathlon and equestrian arena (obstacle and dressage) on the lawned garden to the west of the Grand Canal. A sport rooted in aristocratic culture is played in a place that was the center of European court culture in the 17th and 18th centuries. When it was used as a palace, around 2,000 horses stayed here and were sent to travel and hunt by the royal family and the nobility. The organizing committee said, “It is optimal for horse riding, in terms of space and the surrounding environment,” and added, “You will be able to enjoy the elegance of horse riding on a different level with the open and beautiful natural environment. palaces and gardens in the background.”
Taekwondo and fencing, which promise medal feats for Korea, will be held at the Grand Palais. It is a grand building of 77,000 m2 (about 23,300 pyeong) built for the Paris World Exhibition of 1900, and is famous for its large vaulted ceiling reaching 45 meters high, the glass ceiling covering most of the building, and its art nouveau style exterior. . When the weather is nice, bright natural light pours into the building, creating an atmosphere that makes you feel like you’re outdoors. It previously hosted the 2010 World Fencing Championships. It is currently being completely refurbished with the aim of opening before the Olympics. 134 years ago, the world’s oldest metal type book, Jikjisimcheyojeol, was revealed to the world for the first time at the Korea Pavilion at the Paris World Exhibition held here. It is currently held by the National Library of France.
Archery, another Korean national sport, is held at the Hôtel des Invalides. This historic building was built in 1687 by the ‘Sun King’ Louis Currently, there is the tomb of Emperor Napoleon I and the French Military Museum, and thousands of tourists visit every day. The Invalides Garden is considered one of the most beautiful places in Paris. In addition to archery, a wide lawn will be used to build a track and stadium to host a variety of athletics events, including short, middle and long distance running, relay races, race walking, long and high jump, and javelin. It faces the Grand Palais across the River Seine and is a 20-minute walk from the Champs-de-Mars Place, so it’s conveniently located and has good accessibility to other stadiums.
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