PARIS, June 22 (Xinhua) -- The new Olympic Water Sports Stadium, an Olympic and Paralympic venue to host the canoeing and rowing events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, has been opened on Saturday as part of Olympic Day.
The Ile de France Water Sports Stadium offers the best possible facilities for elite water sports, boasting a new 11,000 square meters sports hub comprising the whitewater stadium, training channel, and a training and accommodation centre with 140 beds.
The French Minister for Sport Roxana Maracineanu and Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet joined some 35 athletes and a group of Generation 2024 youngsters to test the venue for the first time.
"Today's official handover of the Ile-de-France Olympic Water Sports Stadium provides further proof that with five years to go before the start of the Games, the state is continuing to fulfill the commitments it made with regard to delivering Olympic and Paralympic construction projects and facilities," said Maracineanu.
The site's multi-functionality means that all the canoe slalom, canoe sprint, rowing, paracanoe and Paralympic rowing events at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games can be held at a single venue within easy reach of Paris.
The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games will provide a magnificent showcase for water sports, and will also help nurture the champions of tomorrow and encourage people in the Ile-de-France region to take up sport.
"It means a lot to me to see the whitewater channel for myself, in its Olympic layout. I hope everyone who comes here to dip their paddles in the water, whether they be kayakers or canoeists, Olympians or Paralympians, juniors or seniors, elite athletes or recreational paddlers, has a lot of fun in doing so," Estanguet, three-time canoeing Olympic champion, pointed out.
