Paris 2024 first test event to be held in Marseille in July

Paris, France | Xinhua | With less than 500 days to go before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, the organizers unveiled the testing program late Thursday, with the first test event to take place in Marseille from 9 to 16 July, when the city’s marina will host an international sailing competition.

The testing program will be held over the 12 months leading up to the Games, culminating with athletics and Para-athletics operational tests at the Stade de France in June 2024.

“The Paris 2024 testing program has been carefully put together in accordance with the specific requirements of each sport and the different Olympic and Paralympic competition venues, in close cooperation with the relevant International Federations,” the organizers said in a statement.

For those venues with a strong tradition of hosting specific sports events, like Roland Garros for tennis, only transition tests will be carried out with no additional events to be held.

The testing program will include three types of tests:

International-standard competitions created by Paris 2024 in order to meet a specific need for knowledge linked to certain sports or venues;

Events organized by National or International Sports Federations or other third parties to enable Paris 2024 to test certain operations at events organized by other entities;

Operational tests, which are defined as “targeted tests”, organized by Paris 2024 and include specific tests held behind closed doors or with a small number of invited athletes to make sure a particular venue is functioning correctly or to test the transition between different sports at the same venue.

In August 2023, Paris city center will simultaneously host a stage of the Archery World Cup on 19 and 20 August and an international triathlon and para-triathlon competition, offering a brief but intense taste of what will occur at the same location a year later. ■