Paris Advances Olympic Aquatics Plans

(ATR) Three architects are vying for the Paris 2024 aquatics center contract, as Games officials move forward with one of the biggest projects of the Olympics.

The call for tenders was issued last November, with three candidates responding by the March 29 deadline, Paris 2024 spokesman Christophe Proust tells Around the Rings.

Each of the design firms, who have not been named, presented two projects to Paris 2024 leaders.

"Paris 2024 will now study each project and will choose one project per candidate," Proust told ATR on Wednesday.

Games CEO Etienne Thobois, speaking to reporters in Lausanne last week after Paris 2024’s presentation to the IOC’s ruling body, said the choice of architects and builders would be made in November with works starting in 2020.

Amid cost concerns, the IOC last October backed a revised concept for the aquatics center – the only new competition venue for the Paris Olympics. It will bring all aquatics events (apart from the 10km marathon) to a single site at Plaine Saulnier in Saint-Denis, next to the Stade de France. An earlier aquatics center plan slated to be built in the Saint-Denis suburb of Paris was dropped due to soaring costs; it had an estimated price tag of over $130 million.

The Olympic Village is the other major construction project of the Paris Games.

Thobois and Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet updated the IOC executive board on progress on these projects and other aspects of preparations last week.

Commenting on the Village, Thobois said that following the March launch of the tender process for the commercial phase of the project, the choice of developers would be made in November. Ground works will begin next year with construction starting in 2021. The Village is scheduled to be delivered in late 2023, he confirmed.

"Everything is according to plan, everything is on schedule right now," he told reporters in Lausanne.

Estanguet said Paris 2024 updated the IOC’s rulers on the delivery of the Games, the legacy program and their plans to further engage with the French sports movement, city authorities and local communities.

The IOC’s ruling body supported the four additional sports proposed by Paris 2024: breaking, surfing, sport climbing and skateboarding.

Estanguet said there were no specific comments on the sports made by EB members. "But overall it was well received… we had congratulations from EB members. The IOC president insisted on the importance of gender equality among additional sports and to make sure they respect this."

The sports are set to ratified at the IOC Session in Lausanne in June. IOC chief Thomas Bach cautioned that the sports were only provisionally included in the Paris Olympics. A final decision will be taken at end of 2020 following a review of the three sports participating in the Tokyo Olympics and evaluation of breakdancing over the next 18 months via a monitoring program.

It means one or more of the additional sports could yet be dropped from the Paris 2024 Olympics if they perform badly at Tokyo 2020, or the IOC deems them unfit for inclusion for other reasons.

"There is no plan B because the IOC made clear they can effectively put out one sport… but in this case we won’t be able to propose a new sport," Estanguet told reporters.

Asked for his message to sports like squash which failed to win favor, missing out on Olympic inclusion for a third consecutive bid – the Paris 2024 leader said the IOC’s process was well known since last July. Criteria included limiting the number of additional athletes to add only 10 to 12 events and building no major infrastructure.

"Our task was to make sure those four sports will really add value to the current [Olympic Games] proposal. What kind of sports will better tell the story of Paris 2024’s vision for spectacular Games, with creativity and culture at the heart of the Games? Squash is not there… it was difficult. We felt that the four sports we chose better ticked the boxes."

Paris 2024 welcomed a newcomer to its ranks this week.

Marlène Masure is the new executive director of business development and partnerships for the Games organizing committee. She replaced Frédéric Longuépée, now president of the Girondins de Bordeaux football club, and started in her post on April 1.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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