The Organizing Committee of the Games unveiled, this Thursday, alongside the city of Paris, the “postcard setting”, which will host the triathlon and paratriathlon events, with a start and finish planned near the Pont Alexander III.
A start of the event in the Seine, a route by bike then on foot crossing the most beautiful streets of Paris, from the avenue des Champs-Élysées, to the avenue Montaigne, passing by the Invalides bridge, the surroundings of the National Assembly, the heart of Boulevard Saint-Germain, or even rue du Bac and the Quai d’Orsay…
It is a “postcard setting”, presented this Thursday by Tony Estanguet, president of the organizing committee of the Paris 2024 Games, when unveiling the route of the triathlon and para-triathlon events(sequence of swimming, cycling and then running), which will be respectively organized on July 30th, 31st and August 5th, and September 1st and 2nd, 2024.
Alternating between the left bank and the right bank of the Seine, the athletes will evolve in the heart of the capital, with a departure and an arrival planned at the level of the Pont Alexandre III. This is where the stands reserved for the 3,000 spectators with tickets will be located. The rest of the course will be accessible to all fans and followers of the race.
110 triathletes will meet at Pont Alexandre III to start a memorable race in the heart of Paris.
Discover the Olympic individual triathlon course of #Paris2024 ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/IqZlz3ELOR
— Paris 2024 (@Paris2024) April 27, 2023
“We have never had the chance to run in the heart of a capital”
“It’s going to be pretty special. We are going to have the chance to go sightseeing while doing the Games, ”smiled Léo Bergère, winner of the world circuit in 2022, this Thursday morning when discovering the course. In his case, he will engage in 1500 m of swimming (a 910 m loop + a 590 m loop), 40 km by bike (7 laps of a 5715 m loop) then 10 km of running ( 4 laps of a 2.5 km loop).
“In my memory, we have never had the chance to run in the heart of capital as will be the case in Paris, at home, appreciated his compatriot Léonie Périault, who will take the same route. It’s gonna be amazing! “. Paratriathlete Alexis Hanquinquant, who will run on a course divided in half, is also jubilant. “This city of Paris is the most beautiful in the world. Being able to defend my Paralympic title at home, in France, will be magical”.
“We set ourselves several objectives when establishing this course, explains Tony Estanguet. We first wanted to emphasize the spectacular dimension of the event, for a sport that is extremely popular in France and whose practice continues to develop. We also wanted a demanding course, with major difficulties”. On the program in particular: many turns, and in fact, many reminders on the cycling and walking routes, a passage on the cobblestones of the Champs-Élysées, swimming against the current on part of the swimming loop, or again, for able-bodied athletes, the climb of about thirty steps out of the river, to reach the transition zone.
Swimming in a river, a first
“You will not only have to press the pedals as hard as possible, image Léo Bergère, but also use your brain to get the best possible place. The one who will win will be the one who takes into account all the particularities of the course to avoid its pitfalls”.
Also, the organizers wanted to highlight the “legacy” that these three events will leave behind (individual races for triathletes then para triathletes, and the mixed relay), with in mind: swimming in the Seine. “This is the first time that the swimming event of an Olympic triathlon will take place in a river”, welcomes Tony Estanguet, who has also confirmed that this year’s “test-event”, organized from 17 to August 20, will be held on the same course.
Satisfaction also for the city of Paris, represented this Thursday morning by Pierre Rabadan, the deputy in charge of sport, the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Seine, during this press conference. “It’s an innovative course in its form, in its format: exceptional, iconic and heritage, he appreciates.
But it is also a course that symbolizes what will be one of the strong markers of the Games: swimming in the Seine, which will be at the heart of Paris 2024, which will eventually allow the opening of swimming sites for the general public. from the summer of 2025”.
