ONE YEAR AHEAD OF THE PARIS 2024 GAMES TEST EVENTS SHOW HAVE SUCCESSFULLY RUNNED

USPA NEWS - Over the last few days, and a year ahead of schedule, the heart of the French capital has been beating to the rhythm of the Paris 2024 Games. Test events took place simultaneously for triathlon and Para triathlon in an area around the Pont Alexandre III and, in the immediate vicinity, for archery and Para archery on the Esplanade des Invalides. The events proved to be great learning opportunities that proved the key concepts behind Paris 2024 and allow all to look ahead to the Games with heightened anticipation and confidence. 
Starting last Wednesday, the Test Event for the triathlon and Para triathlon events at the Games of Paris 2024 ended on Sunday, with the spectacular mixed relay that ended in victory for Germany, edging out Great Britain, Belgium and France, who had been leading the race for a long time.
Although this last competition - like yesterday's Para triathlon events - was run as a duathlon (running - cycling - running), due to discrepancies in the results of water quality analysis of the Seine, the Test Event proved positive generally.
Source: Paris 2024, Organisation

ONE YEAR AHEAD OF THE PARIS 2024 GAMES TEST EVENTS SHOW HAVE SUCCESSFULLY RUNNED SIMULTANEOUSLY FOR TRIATHLON & PARATRIATHLON Over the last few days, and a year ahead of schedule, the heart of the French capital has been beating to the rhythm of the Paris 2024 Games. Test events took place simultaneously for triathlon and Para triathlon in an area around the Pont Alexandre III and, in the immediate vicinity, for archery and Para archery on the Esplanade des Invalides. The events proved to be great learning opportunities that proved the key concepts behind Paris 2024 and allow all to look ahead to the Games with heightened anticipation and confidence.  Starting last Wednesday, the Test Event for the triathlon and Para triathlon events at the Games of Paris 2024 ended on Sunday, with the spectacular mixed relay that ended in victory for Germany, edging out Great Britain, Belgium and France, who had been leading the race for a long time. Although this last competition - like yesterday's Para triathlon events - was run as a duathlon (running - cycling - running), due to discrepancies in the results of water quality analysis of the Seine, the Test Event proved positive generally.

TRIATHLON ROUTES ENHANCED BY PARIS’S MOST BEAUTIFUL MONUMENTS
The routes, against the backdrop of Paris’s most iconic monuments, including the Pont Alexandre III, the Grand Palais, the Invalides, the Champs-Elysées and more, were unanimously appreciated by the triathletes and Para triathletes. All the events were contested in front of many enthusiastic supporters along the routes and around the venues, thrilled by the suspense of the competitions, which brought together the world’s most elite athletes, all looking for points of reference ahead of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 (the Games route will be the same).
The holding of this test event also represented the return of swimming to the Seine, a first since the Paris 2012 Triathlon. Even though the swimming events were not able to be held during the last two days of competition (as a precautionary measure for the health of the triathletes and Para triathletes), the ongoing work on wastewater management and the delivery of new infrastructure for the treatment of rainwater between now and the Olympic Games Paris 2024, will mean that the water quality will be improved and, as a result, the events will be held as planned.

New infrastructure will include the Austerlitz reservoir, an enormous storage basin 50m in diameter and more than 30m deep will allow for the storage of more than 50,000m3 of water, equivalent to 20 Olympic pools. This reservoir will allow event organisers to be better prepared for exceptional weather events by preventing wastewater from being discharged into the Seine in the event of heavy rain.
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These new pieces of equipment and facilities, together with the contingency days that will offer greater latitude for organising competitions during the Games (the Games programme provides for the postponement of certain competitions that are subject to the vagaries of the weather, in order to offer the athletes the best possible conditions), mean that the Paris 2024 triathlon and Para triathlon events will be held under the best possible conditions.

Alongside the sporting dimension of the event, several operational and technical aspects were successfully tested during this Test Event, including the installation of the temporary pontoon on the Seine, the mobilisation and training of volunteers, the entry of athletes onto the field of play, and security and transport operations. The test also demonstrated the excellent collaboration between the main stakeholders, in particular World Triathlon (International Federation of Triathlon), the Prefecture of the Île-de-France region, the Prefecture of Paris, the Prefecture of Police, the City of Paris and Paris 2024.
The geographical proximity and the simultaneous hosting of the World Archery Cup Test Event, organised by the French Archery Federation (FFTA), also made it possible to work on the coactivity between the two venues, and, in particular, on the management of spectator flows and general coordination with the authorities.

THE WORLD’S BEST ACHERS ON THE ESPLANADE DES INVALIDES Just a few hundred metres away, the finals of the Paris leg of the Archery World Cup took place on the Esplanade des Invalides. The best archers in the Olympic events had the privilege of shooting and getting their bearings at the future Games venue, against the backdrop of the majestic Dôme des Invalides. The event, which ended with a second place for France's Lisa Barbelin, enabled Paris 2024 to successfully test certain key aspects of the organisation in the areas of sport, logistics and transport, as well as security. In particular, it provided an opportunity to analyse and observe the impact of wind on the competition and training venues, the flow and movement of athletes between the training and competition venues, venue assembly and dismantling operations, and venue accessibility for all the athletes (Olympic and Paralympic). The next Test Event organised by Paris 2024 will be mountain biking (cycling), on 24 September, Archery at Elancourt.

Tony Estanguet, Paris 2024 President: “The simultaneous organisation of the triathlon and Para triathlon test events at the Pont Alexandre III, and the World Archery World Cup at Les Invalides, right in the heart of Paris, gave us a foretaste of the Games. We have seen exceptional triathlon and Para triathlon routes at the foot of the most beautiful monuments in Paris, archery and Para archery right next to the Dôme des Invalides, and, of course, great moments of sport. I would like to thank the World Triathlon, World Archery and their French national federations, as well as all the stakeholders in the public sector, for their invaluable contributions at our side. These test events have taught us a great deal. Throughout these test events, we have been able to adapt to offer the athletes the best possible competition conditions, enabling us to look forward to next year's Olympic and Paralympic competitions with confidence. We can't wait!”

Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris: “For the first time since 2012, the Seine welcomed swimmers to compete. I would like to pay tribute to the efforts of all the teams, staff and volunteers who helped make this long-awaited event a reality. This event would not have been possible without the cooperation of all the stakeholders, including the institutional partners. This will be continuing our joint work, which will enable us to respond to the adjustments still required, as a result of holding these events. The large numbers of spectators who turned out to cheer on the athletes already demonstrates the excitement surrounding the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2024 in the exceptional setting that is the city of Paris. See you next year!”

Marisol Casado, World Triathlon President: “We organised four extraordinary days of races in the heart of Paris. We had to adapt and replace the Para triathlon and the mixed relay with a duathlon format, but that is exactly what test events are for: to test the venue, the contingency plans and all the protocols so we are ready on the big day. And I can say that this city is ready. We were privileged to witness some fabulous events. The images the world saw were breathtaking. The athletes really loved the experience, and we can't wait to be at the Games next summer.”

Magali Charbonneau, Chief of Staff to the Police Prefecture of Paris : “These last four days have provided an opportunity for us to test securing part of the centre of Paris, both in terms of space and time, together with related impacts on traffic and residents. I would like to salute the work accomplished by all the law enforcement and emergency services personnel who enabled these tests to be concluded successfully, delivering extraordinary images of sport.” 

Pierre-Antoine Molina, General Secretary for Public Policy, Ile de France Prefecture:“This test has allowed us to confirm the ability to organise competitions authorised by the prefecture, together with the great progress achieved with regard to the water quality of the Seine. We have also learnt many lessons that will help us during the coming year, as we further improve the measures in place in order to be fully ready for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024.”

ABOUT PARIS 2024  The mission of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 Organising Committee, in accordance with the host city contract signed between the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français (CNOSF – French National Olympic and Sporting Committee) and the Ville de Paris municipal authorities, is to plan, organise, fund and deliver the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024.  The Olympic and Paralympic Games are the greatest sporting event in the world, with unparalleled media impact. They bring together 10,500 Olympic athletes and 4,400 Paralympic athletes, respectively from 206 and 184 delegations, across five continents. They are watched by over 13 million spectators and billions of viewers across the world, across a total of over 100,000 hours of TV broadcasting. They are without equal in sporting, economic and cultural events throughout the world, and this power helps to further their impact.  Set up in January 2018, Paris 2024 is headed by Tony Estanguet, three-time Olympic champion. It is run by a Board of Directors, on which sit all the founding members of the project: the CNOSF, Ville de Paris, the French Government, the Île-de-France regional authority, the CPSF, the Métropole du Grand Paris, the Conseil départemental de Seine Saint-Denis, representatives of the local authorities involved in the Games, civil society and corporate partners. » Source Paris 2024, Organization. Source: Paris 2024, Paralympic Olympic Games