E. Grégoire: Turning the Legacy of the Games into a Sporting, Social, and Popular Legacy

The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games marked Paris two years ago. How do you plan to transform this Olympic momentum into sustainable public policies for the sports practice of Parisians?

The Olympic and Paralympic Games of Paris 2024 were a real success and made our capital the world capital of sports. The Games also allowed for the renovation of numerous sports facilities such as the Dauvin Sports Center, Poissonniers, and the construction of a new local sports facility: the Adidas Arena, at Porte de la Chapelle. The quality of the Seine water has been improved, including the creation of a new sports practice area: swimming in the Seine. We intend to continue this ambition and make the legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games a sporting, social, and popular legacy. To achieve this, we will perpetuate the district Olympiads and make sports a popular celebration all year round through large interscholastic games. We also plan to open a new swimming site: the Bastille Beach at the Arsenal Port.

In your program, you have emphasized the role of sports as a lever for public health. Specifically, how can a municipality act to combat sedentary behavior in a dense city like Paris?

The fight against sedentary behavior involves, on one hand, the development of infrastructure that allows everyone to be active (pedestrianization, widening of sidewalks, cycling facilities, etc.). In order to encourage everyone to engage in regular physical activity, we will increase the number of “sport health homes” so that there is one in each district to combat sedentary behavior. We will also ensure the sporting activity of seniors by expanding free municipal programs (such as Paris sport senior, outdoor senior sport, etc.) in connection with sports associations and nursing homes.

Another topic, Paris is a city highly constrained in terms of land. How do you plan to actually increase the capacity to accommodate sports practice when available land is scarce? Is the equation soluble?

To continue promoting sports practice for everyone, we will work on the proper use of time slots and available spaces (roof developments, sharing spaces with schools, etc.). As for practice locations, we will develop the construction of new facilities such as the Suzanne Liebrard gymnasium in the 12th arrondissement or the future City of Sports in the 20th. We will go further by multiplying practice locations through sharing spaces with high school and college sports facilities, or by transforming unused office spaces into dance studios, boxing gyms, or dojos. Our goal is clear: we will invest heavily in public space to encourage sports practice for everyone, everywhere, and at all times. Additionally, in line with the climate ambitions of our city, we will invest extensively in upgrading existing facilities to improve the comfort of users.

(Contex: The article addresses the transformation of Paris’ Olympic legacy into sustainable sports policies and strategies to promote physical activity among Parisians.)

(Fact Check: The article discusses various initiatives to promote sports participation, maintain public health, and develop sports infrastructure in Paris, following the success of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in the city.)