The end of Olympic escapism for gloomy France

FRANCE 24 English

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00:00Beyond the memories, what will remain of Paris 2024?

00:04Outside certain iconic monuments, the grandstands are coming down,

00:08like those around the Eiffel Tower, where the seats are being carted away.

00:13Cognizant of the aftermath of previous games with their white elephants or venues that were

00:18no longer used after the sporting events, Paris relied heavily on already-existent venues.

00:24It refitted them for the occasion.

00:27So the two pools at La Défense Arena will be broken down,

00:30and then rebuilt as public ones in regional suburbs.

00:34Some venues were built specifically for the games, though.

00:37The Aquatic Centre in Saint-Denis will also become a public pool,

00:41and a venue for future competitions.

00:43The Arena at La Chapelle will also host sporting events and concerts.

00:48Then there's housing.

00:49The plan is for the Olympic Village and the Media Village to become homes.

00:54These buildings were the largest of the 64 construction sites,

00:58which altogether cost 4.4 billion euros, including 1.7 billion euros in public funds.

01:06It was a project that was constructed first and foremost to answer the population's needs.

01:11Some 6,000 people will live here, and some 6,000 will work here.

01:15So there will be shops and businesses. It was really created with that in mind.

01:20The Olympic Village is 300,000 metres squared of housing,

01:24across three Paris-region cities, Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen and Ile Saint-Denis.

01:29The athletes' rooms will become 2,800 apartments,

01:33of which 25 to 40 percent will become social housing.

01:36And on top of that, the Media Village will be transformed into 1,500 homes.

01:41Their transformation is expected in about a year's time.

01:44As for the Olympic Vasque, a beloved symbol of the Games and the rings of the Eiffel Tower,

01:51well, Paris' mayor says she's in favour of them sticking around,

01:54at least in the coming years.

01:56But such plans are far from set in stone.

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