Arc De Triomphe is lit up with the 2024 Olympic Games bid logo in Paris, France, February 9, 2016. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
PARIS (Reuters) - Paris bid leaders said almost all of the city's proposed venues for the 2024 Olympics were already built or would be temporary facilities as the French capital on Wednesday unveiled its plans to stage the Summer Games. The race for hosting rights is now officially underway with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) having received the four candidature files of Paris, Budapest, Rome and Los Angeles. At a ceremony in the Philharmonie de Paris concert hall, the French unveiled 36 venues in essentially two zones - central Paris and the Paris-St Denis area, a few km north of the city centre. Bid leaders promised that "95 percent of the venues" would be "already existing or temporary to minimize investment". In front of Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo and Prime minister Manuel Valls, they said several events would take place at prestigious venues such as the Stade de France (athletics), Roland Garros (tennis) and the Bercy Arena (basketball). Temporary structures would be situated in historic locations with equestrian events being held at the Palace of Versailles and beach volleyball at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Among the facilities yet to be built are the media, Olympic and Paralympic villages in St Denis plus the aquatics centre.
NEW FACILITIES "New venues and facilities will touch their communities, including the Aquatics Centre, the Media Village and the Olympic and Paralympic Village located in Paris's younger and fast-growing outer ring," Hidalgo said.
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