PARIS, France — At the 2024 Summer Olympics, the host city of Paris is making sure urban sports are being played in a natural setting, away from stadiums and on the streets, with BMX, skateboarding, break dancing and 3X3 basketball all being held in the same historic spot.
Tour guide Annie Cherouvrier said Place de la Concord was once the Royal Square of King Louis XV and has had anything but a peaceful history, as the square is where hundreds of people were executed by guillotine.
“This square was first Royal Square, then Revolution Square, because this is where the guillotine was during the French Revolution,” Cherouvrier said. “This is where more than 1,000 executions took place, among them the execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution.”
Today it’s a busy crossroads, near the Louve and the Eiffel Tower. A statue of the king has been replaced with an Egyptian obelisk.
During the 2024 Olympics, La Concord is the site of four sporting events.
“It will be a place where urban sports will be held, such as breakdance, hip-hop, skateboarding and BMX,” Cherouvrier said.
The square is no stranger to sport because it’s also right next to the Champs-Elysees, where riders race through Paris during the Tour de France and now will add to its sports history during the 2024 Summer Olympics.
