Olympic Village welcomes first athletes ahead of 2024 Paris Games
By Homero De la Fuente, CNN
(CNN) — The Olympic Village welcomed the first athletes on Thursday ahead of the Summer Games in Paris.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach was on hand to tour the nearly 134-acre village in Saint-Denis, France. Approximately 10,500 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team are expected to reside at the village.
“Finally, we are here. It has been a long journey these seven years, but it has been a hugely rewarding one. We have a wonderful Olympic Village, and all the ingredients for a great Olympic Games are here,” Bach said on Thursday.
“The venues are not only breathtaking, they are of the highest standard. You feel how the enthusiasm in France is growing, and I hope you have the same feeling.”
Bach was joined by Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet and IOC Coordination Commission Chair Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant as they toured the village during their visit.
The Olympic Village was created with Paris 2024 officials focused on making the games the “most responsible and sustainable games in history.”
Once the Paralympics conclude on September 8, the village – which contains 82 buildings – will be converted into office space for 6,000 workers and apartments to house another 6,000 people, organizers previously said.
The site for the Olympic Village was chosen in the hopes it would revitalize some of the city’s historically impoverished northern suburbs.
The village lies at the juncture of three suburbs: Saint-Denis, a diverse, working-class neighborhood long associated with crime and insecurity; the rapidly gentrifying Saint-Ouen; and Ile-Saint-Denis, an island on the Seine River.
Organizers say post-Olympics, 32% of the new homes in Saint-Denis and Saint-Ouen, and 48% of those in Ile-Saint-Denis built for the Games will be set aside for public housing.
The Opening Ceremony for the Summer Olympics will be held on July 26. The Games will run through August 11.
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