Paris 2024 first test event to be held in Marseille in July

PARIS - With less than 500 days to go before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, the organisers unveiled the testing programme late Thursday, with the first test event to take place in Marseille from 9 to 16 July, when the city's marina will host an international sailing competition.

The testing programme will be held over the 12 months leading up to the Games, culminating with athletics and Para-athletics operational tests at the Stade de France in June 2024, reported Xinhua.

"The Paris 2024 testing programme has been carefully put together in accordance with the specific requirements of each sport and the different Olympic and Paralympic competition venues, in close cooperation with the relevant International Federations," the organisers said in a statement.

For those venues with a strong tradition of hosting specific sports events, like Roland Garros for tennis, only transition tests will be carried out with no additional events to be held.

The testing programme will include three types of tests:

International-standard competitions created by Paris 2024 in order to meet a specific need for knowledge linked to certain sports or venues;

Events organised by National or International Sports Federations or other third parties to enable Paris 2024 to test certain operations at events organised by other entities;

Operational tests, which are defined as "targeted tests", organised by Paris 2024 and include specific tests held behind closed doors or with a small number of invited athletes to make sure a particular venue is functioning correctly or to test the transition between different sports at the same venue.

In August 2023, Paris city centre will simultaneously host a stage of the Archery World Cup on 19 and 20 August and an international triathlon and para-triathlon competition, offering a brief but intense taste of what will occur at the same location a year later. - BERNAMA-XINHUA