SPORTS EQUIPMENT FOR THE GAMES SENT TO THE FRENCH SPORTS MOVEMENT

The sports equipment that enabled the performances and exploits of athletes from all over the world at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris will be given a second life!

Of the 1.2 million pieces of sports equipment needed to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, 75% were leased in line with the Paris 2024 responsible sourcing and circular economy strategy. The remaining quarter were purchased with financial support from the Agence Nationale du Sport (ANS). The equipment purchased will be donated to the French sports movement for the benefit of athletes and sportsmen at all levels.

In accordance with the strategy defined and validated by the ANS, CNOSF and CPSF, the national sports federations have identified, through a transparent selection process, the potential beneficiary structures for all the equipment purchased by Paris 2024. Following validation by the internal Paris 2024 Second Life Commission and the ANS, donation agreements have been signed or are about to be signed between Paris 2024 and the federations concerned. This will give all the sports equipment a second life before the end of the Games and will be donated to identified beneficiary sports and federations.

This reuse programme reflects Paris 2024’s desire to provide access to physical activity and sport to as many people as possible, especially those from areas without sports facilities, such as Seine-Saint-Denis, which ranks 103rd out of the 105 French departments in terms of access to sports infrastructure.

For example:

• The French Volleyball Federation (FFVB) will receive a large amount of equipment: balls, nets, posts and sports floors. The FFVB will make this equipment available to its sports centers throughout France.

• The French Badminton Federation (FFBaD) will recover equipment for its Olympic and Paralympic disciplines. In Pays de la Loire, it is the Paralympic movement that will recover a large amount of equipment.

• The sand of the Eiffel Tower Stadium, used for beach volleyball events, will be reused to create the equivalent of three playing fields in the departmental park of Marville (93) and one in Taverny in the Val d’Oise (95).

• Following an expression of interest launched in 2021, the temporary swimming pools installed at the Paris La Défense Arena in Nanterre are to be reused in Seine-Saint-Denis, Sevran (Paris Terres d’Envol) and Bagnolet (Est-Ensemble) as part of a legacy initiative funded by Paris 2024, SOLIDEO, the Prefecture and the Seine-Saint-Denis Departmental Council.

THE BIG GAME AUCTIONS, NEW OPTIONS TO TREAT YOURSELF TO A SOUVENIR

Collectors and fans of the Games are in the starting blocks: the day after the Paralympic Games, auctions will be organized throughout France where a wide variety of memorabilia from the Games will be auctioned off.

For the first time in the history of the Games, an organizing committee is taking advantage of these festive and public events to give a second life to thousands of objects: textiles such as uniforms, trophies, flags, athletes’ towels, elements used to decorate the venues and even products from the ceremonies. These souvenirs are sold at attractive prices.

Calendar of Paris second-hand fairs 2024:

• Mulhouse, 15.09. for the Mulhousienne race
• Pantin, 22.09. on the occasion of Climate Day
• Rouen, 22.09., with its own second-hand fair
• Nanterre, October 5th at the Fête du Commerce fair
• Compiègne, 06/10, for Compiègne en Rose
• Rennes, 10.12., at the Tout Rennes Court event
• Vichy, 13.10., with its own second-hand fair
• Carcassonne in Occitanie, 13.10., with its own flea market

Further dates in Paris, Reims, Montpellier, Châteauroux and other cities will be confirmed shortly.

A global strategy to reduce, rent and reuse physical gaming assets

The donation of sports equipment to the French sports movement and the Paris 2024 second-hand fairs are part of Paris 2024’s overall circular economy strategy, which aims to organize a more responsible event.

From temporary infrastructure to furniture, uniforms, sports equipment, food and beverages and technological equipment, Paris 2024 has carried out an unprecedented assessment of the scope and nature of its assets, with the aim of reducing and consolidating resources and controlling their life cycle before, during and after the Games.

Within this framework, 90% of the 6 million assets will be deployed and then taken back by Paris 2024’s service providers and partners, who will be responsible for finding a second life for them. For example, Lyreco, official supporter of the Paris 2024 Games and supplier of over 60,000 pieces of furniture, has taken the opportunity of the Games to launch a new range of second-hand furniture. Paris 2024 has also committed to finding a second-life solution for the remaining 10% of furniture, which will be managed directly by the Organising Committee.

The entire Games ecosystem is mobilized for the second life, with the host communities, the Olympic and Paralympic families and the major solidarity associations. For example:

• The City of Paris has allocated human and material resources to recover the last pieces of equipment after the closure of the Paris 2024 sites and redistribute them to the Parisian associations that work daily with vulnerable people.

• Some National Olympic and Paralympic Committees have committed to donating the products and equipment they bring to the Games to charities working to help the most disadvantaged sections of society (Emmaüs, La Croix Rouge and Secours Populaire Français).

• RGS, official supporter of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, will donate more than 50,000 pieces of furniture to the Emmaus Movement, including to the Banque Solidaire de l’Equipement, an Emmaus Défi program that provides furniture to people in difficult situations finding their first permanent home.

• Gerflor, official supporter and supplier of 33,000 m² of sports flooring for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, will re-lay nearly forty playing fields in municipalities and clubs in the Paris region and throughout France.

For certain products and equipment still looking for a second life, Paris 2024 has set up a pre-order platform “Second vie Paris 2024”. These assets, which will be gradually put online, can be purchased by professionals or picked up free of charge by clubs and associations.