The Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium will host the Olympic rowing and canoe-kayak events, and the Paralympic Para rowing and Para canoe-kayak events at the Vaires-Torcy leisure complex in 2024. The French Rowing and Canoe-Kayak Federations are delighted with this brand-new Nautical Stadium, which was the first newly developed Olympic facility to be delivered in 2019.
Designed by architects Auer+Weber+Assoziierte, the complex is structured around three core features of the Vaires-Torcy leisure base: the lake, the white-water stadium and the living area, which includes the new buildings with a landscaped roof that can be accessed for walks. The 4,400 sqm sports centre is comprised of the new white-water stadium and its two courses over 300 and 150 metres; the 2,200m rowing and sprint canoe-kayak course, equipped with a finishing tower; a sports medicine centre; a weight-training centre; various administrative spaces; a media centre; and a training and accommodation centre.
This outstanding hub will bring together the representative bodies of these water sports and welcome athletes of all levels; for canoeing-kayaking, it is already home to the headquarters of the French Federation and its regional committee, as well as its national and youth hubs; and for rowing, it will be home to the Île-de-France Rowing League and its youth hub, as well as the French Rowing Federation’s logistics platform. The overall complex is an international centre of excellence for sport. Along with Beijing and Sydney, it is one of three sites in the world with the facilities needed to host Olympic and Paralympic canoe-kayak and rowing events.
Legacy
This major project, the only one of its kind in Europe, meets the demand for leisure facilities serving communities in the Paris region while satisfying the standards of excellence required for high-level athletes. Integrated within a 150-hectare site with remarkable landscaping (including 450 trees that have been planted to provide a space where Paris region communities can enjoy somewhere to breathe in an urban setting), the new facilities have been developed in line with a high environmental quality (HQE) approach, successfully protecting and showcasing this site. Looking beyond elite competition, the white-water stadium enables the Vaires-Torcy leisure complex to offer a wide selection of leisure activities to benefit communities from across the Paris region. Alongside the activities already available around the lake, such as rowing, catamaran sailing, stand-up paddle-boarding, windsurfing and dinghy sailing, the white-water stadium offers rafting, hydrospeeding and, of course, canoeing and kayaking.