IRON LADY. The Eiffel Tower and the fountain at Jardins du Trocadero. Picture: iStock
The Paris Olympics have been designed to show case the City of Light in all its splendour with events taking place at iconic locations.
Here are five sites to wow ticket holders – and a global TV audience of billions – in the 17-day extravaganza which started yesterday:
The most famous of the Paris land marks, the Eiffel Tower, will welcome beach volleyball. Games will take place in a temporary venue near the foot of the “Iron Lady”.
The tower has become the symbol of Paris and attracts seven million visitors a year.
Olympic winners will go home with a small part of the iron colossus. Each medal will contain an 18g crumb of original iron, re moved during renovations, melted down and reforged.
Fencing and taekwondo will take place in the opulent setting of the Grand Palais exhibition hall, a glass-and-steel masterpiece created for the World Fair of 1900.
Its distinctive feature is its glass-domed roof, the largest of its kind in Europe, which covers a cavernous exhibition space of 13 500m2.
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The vast, paved square at the foot of the Champs-Elysees avenue will serve as an urban sports hub.
Skateboarding, 3×3 basketball, BMX freestyle and, in its first Games appearance, breakdancing, will take place on the elegant square by the Seine.
The largest square in Paris is known for its huge gold obelisk, one of a pair erected by Ramses II outside the Luxor temple in Egypt and was gifted to Paris in 1830.
Dressage, show jumping and equestrian cross-country will take place in the park of Versailles Palace, some 20km from Paris.
It also features on the marathon circuit and hosts pentathlon events. The palace has been a world heritage site since 1979 and is a firm favourite on the Paris tourist trail.
Sailing contests will take place in the Mediterranean city of Marseille, France’s boisterous second city, better known as the home of the Olympique Marseille football team.
Over 300 sailors from across the world will battle it out on the sapphire Mediterranean waters off the city. A marina has been built along the scenic Corniche coastal road heading southeast out of the city.
Marseille – which will also host 10 football matches – was where the Olympic torch landed in France on 8 May on its relay to Paris.
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