PeakNews Online
The athletes’ village for the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics officially opened its doors yesterday, welcoming its first residents. Situated to the north of Paris, the village will accommodate nearly 14,500 people, including 9,000 athletes, at its peak.
Eight days ahead of the opening ceremony, the initial arrivals were teams from Australia and Brazil.
“We are ready,” said Augustin Tran Van Chau, the village’s deputy head, to French media. Organizers are proud to offer a village designed to maintain cool temperatures without air-conditioning, claiming indoor temperatures will be at least 6 degrees Celsius (42 degrees Fahrenheit) lower than outside during summer. Nonetheless, some delegations have opted to bring their own air-conditioning units.
The village, composed of approximately 40 different blocks, features numerous innovations aimed at making it a model of low-carbon construction. Post-Games, the 2,800 apartments will be converted into homes, with at least a third designated for public housing.
In response to concerns over the environmental impact of the Games, including construction emissions, air travel, and catering, Paris 2024 organizers have strived to make the village as eco-friendly as possible. Nicolas Ferrand, head of the Paris Olympics infrastructure group, described the village as “a coherent model of the best things we can do at the start of the 21st century, even a bit ahead of time.”
According to Solideo, the Paris Games infrastructure body, the apartments will generate around half the carbon emissions of standard construction over their lifetimes, thanks to energy-saving measures. The village will serve Olympians and Paralympians from July 26 to September 8 before its transformation into permanent housing.
Joe
