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The Olympic project
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10 Q. & A. about Paris 2012
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Key information on Paris' bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympics.
Hosting the Olympic Games is an event of unique importance. Paris intends to
grasp this wonderful opportunity to serve and consolidate the values of the Olympic
Movement and also to contribute to its modernisation and initiate new approaches
to architecture, urban planning and sport.
France also intends to make full use of its expertise acquired through the organisation
and hosting of major sporting events such as the 1998 Football World Cup, the
2003 Athletics World Championships, the 2001 Handball World Championships and
the 2003 Table Tennis World Championships.
Paris 2012 is committed to ensuring the respect both of Olympic values (loyalty,
fairness, openness to others, a spirit of sharing and pushing back one’s own limits)
and of the Olympic Movement’s most recent aims, which encompass sustainable development,
the quest for balance and the importance of celebration.
In taking up this challenge, Paris and France as a whole are also embarking on
a process to achieve a highly beneficial transformation in terms of hospitality,
civic-mindedness and friendliness.
Its site-organisation concept, which features an Olympic Village located within
the Paris Ring road and close to the two competition clusters.
The Olympic Village will showcase 21st-century urban-planning values and will
leave Paris with a remarkable Olympic heritage.
The two Olympic clusters, where two thirds of the sporting events are to be held,
are located at the edge of Paris, allowing the city the breathing space it requires
to celebrate the Games to the full.
The organisational concept behind the Paris 2012 Games sets two venue “clusters”
at the City gates, leaving the heart of the city free to celebrate Olympic festivities.
The two competition venue clusters, where 75% of the events will be held, are
located six kilometres from the Olympic Village. The Northern Cluster will comprise
9 competition venues, along with the International Broacast Centre (IBC) and Main
Press Centre (MPC), while the Western Cluster will encompass 8 competition venues.
Nine venues will lie in “non-cluster” locations, in Paris and the Ile-de-France
Region. Five venues have been selected in cities across France, to host Sailing
(La Rochelle) and Football (Lens, Lyon, Marseille and Nantes).
Paris 2012’s concept – “One Village, Two Clusters” – sets the Olympic and Paralympic
Village only 6km away from the two competition venue sites where 75% of the sports
competition will be held. The Olympic Lanes, in their immediate vicinity, will
guarantee efficient, convenient travel, with both of the venue clusters less than
10 minutes away.
Able to host at the highest level 17 000 people, the Village will offer athletes
a safe and welcoming environment, with ideal pre-competition conditions. The Olympic
Village is designed on nearly 50 hectares, in line with four key concepts: clarity,
safety, ease of mind and mobility.
The Olympic Village is planned as an exemplary urban regeneration project on
one of the last areas in Paris still to be developed. The new Olympic Quarter
will keep the memory of the 2012 Games alive in Paris, and will feature such components
as low-income housing, student housing, public facilities, businesses and a 10
hectare park.
By locating the Games on the edge of Paris, Paris 2012 ensures that the heart
of the city will have complete freedom to celebrate the Games.
Within the Olympic Cores, athletes and sports enthusiasts will together enjoy
events where effort and the pushing back of individual and team limits culminate
in performance and victory.
Elsewhere in Paris, the city’s summer will be punctuated by the excitement of
the Games and by the host of events which accompany them.
The area around the river Seine will be a unique focus for celebration.
Paris’s bid enjoys the unwavering support of the Paris Municipality, the French
State, the Ile-de-France Region, the French National Olympic and Sports Committee
and French companies.
Together, all of these partners have built up exceptional expertise in respect
of projects such as this. They have created a GIP (Groupement d’Intérêt Public) known as “GIP Paris 2012”, which is in charge of ensuring the bid’s success.
An opinion poll carried out in October 2004 revealed nationwide approval. Paris
2012’s bid enjoys growing public support from the French population (79%*), as
reflected in regularly conducted opinion polls.
On 18 May 2004, the IOC Executive Board announced the official candidate cities,
chosen from among nine applicants: Istanbul, Havana, Leipzig, London, Madrid,
Moscow, New York, Paris and Rio de Janeiro.
Subsequently, following visits by the Evaluation Commission in February and March
2005, the 117 active members of the IOC will meet in Singapore on 6 July 2005
to elect the Host City for the 2012 Olympic games and Paralympics.
Those voting will obviously take into account of the technical characteristics
of the project. That means looking at sports and urban infrastructure and at the
facilities and conditions on offer for athletes and visitors. Organisation, management
and media coverage will also be key factors.
The IOC members will also place great importance on cities’ commitment to the
respect, promotion and sharing of Olympic Values, and nationwide public support
for the bid will obviously play an important role.
Timeline for the Paris' bid
- 15 January 2004: reply to the IOC questionnaire.
- 18 May 2004: Candidate Cities designated.
- 15 November 2004: Candidature file handed in.
- February-March 2005: IOC Evaluation Commission visit.
- 6 July 2005: election of the Host City of the Games of the XXX olympiad and of the Paralympic
Games of 2012.
Les chiffres des JO de Sydney 2000
- 40 billion euros marginal impact on GDP over 15 years.
- more than 30 billion television viewers (220 countries and 3,500 hours of broadcast).
- 6.7 million tickets sold.
- 24,000 media personnel
- 10,725 athletes
- 28 sports and 301 gold medal winners
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