general view of the exterior of Paris La Défense Arena, which will host Swimming and Water Polo events. GETTY IMAGES

One of the many logistical challenges faced by the organisers of the Paris Games was to provide a venue capable of hosting the Olympic and Paralympic swimming events in the conditions required by the regulations in terms of comfort for the athletes and capacity to accommodate large crowds.

The solutions used in the past for other events, such as the construction of new infrastructure, have proved difficult in the long term because of the complexity of making this new space profitable for activities that have less use and less publicity outside the Games.

So, Paris 2024 opted to convert existing venues, a challenge that solved the problems for the future, but involved a certain level of complexity and demand, with the added bonus of always having to be ready for the start date of 27 July, when the Olympic swimming competitions begin.

The place to look was the Paris La Defense Arena stadium in Nanterre, a space that had been used as a concert hall or a rugby stadium, and which had to be transformed into an Olympic swimming pool capable of hosting Olympic swimming competitions, water polo matches or the Olympic Games.



The stadium was inaugurated in October 2017 and was originally designed for gymnastics, which had to be moved to the Arena Bercy.

At the time of the bid, it was planned to build an ad hoc swimming pool in Seine-Saint-Denis. There were several reasons for this change of course: in the past, Olympic swimming pools with a capacity of 15,000 people became white elephants because they were too big. We thought about building a pool with a removable section, but it was too expensive," explains Denis Navizet, events director at the Paris La Defense arena.



Paris La Defense Arena

Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre is a truly exceptional facility in terms of its scale, capacity and technology: 13km of stands, a 5,500-tonne framework, and 28,632 sqm of courts and pitches.

While this venue has already welcomed more than two million spectators since it opened, with performances from leading international artists, conventions and seminars, as well as staging the rugby matches of Racing 92, in 2024 it will host swimming events for the very first time. How? Thanks to a modular, multipurpose structure.

The arena first opened its doors in 2017, and sports an iconic modern design courtesy of architect Christian de Portzamparc. It has the world’s largest interactive giant screen, with innovative technology and 1,400 sqm worth of display area (equivalent to seven tennis courts).

Thanks to 600 dynamic giant aluminium and glass scales that make up the building’s exterior facade, the arena seems to come to life for the various events that it stages. In 2024, it will fly the colours of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games!

In addition to staging the rugby matches of Racing 92 (its resident club), Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre will continue to host a range of sporting and cultural events.