It's signed. Black on white. 820 days before the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Great Britain has finalized one of the decisive stages in the preparation of its delegation: the choice of its base camp. The British Olympic Committee (BOA) formalized its partnership with the town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in Yvelines, on Thursday April 28.
Team GB will therefore set down its trunks in the west of the capital, less than 25 km from Paris by road. With this agreement, Great Britain becomes the second major nation in the Olympic movement, after the United States, to unveil its Games Preparation Center (GPC).
Arnaud Pericard, the mayor of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and Andy Anson, the director general of the British Olympic committee, answered questions from FrancsJeux.
FrancsJeux : Andy Anson, why did you choose Saint-Germain-en-Laye as your rear base for the Paris 2024 Games?
Andy Anson: We chose Saint-Germain-en-Laye for its sports facilities, the best in the region, and for the excellent relationship we have developed with the town. Everyone involved fully understood our needs. We met incredibly professional people, very focused on the opportunity that the Olympic Games represent for the region. Team GB has quite complex needs: the best possible sporting facilities, excellent hotel facilities and easy and quick links to the Olympic Village and our other performance venues in Paris. Saint-Germain-en-Laye offers us all this, in addition to a very peaceful forest environment and a dynamic cultural center.
What will Team GB’s setup be in Saint-Germain-en Laye?
Andy Anson: Several of our delegation's major sports, such as athletics, field hockey, football, rugby and weightlifting, will use the Saint-Germain-en-Laye facilities. Between these sports and potentially others, more than a third of the total number of more than 400 athletes we hope to take to the Games at Paris 2024 will reside in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
Arnaud Pericard, what will you offer the British delegation in terms of accommodation, services, reception, etc.?
Arnaud Pericard: First of all, an ideal setting for the preparation of the team and the rest of the athletes, but also for the quality of life and leisure of their loved ones and the fans who come to support them. The Georges-Lefèvre stadium – among other facilities selected by the British delegation on our territory – is a unique site in the Paris region, with its 12 hectares of protected multi-sports facilities in the middle of a national forest. We can accommodate almost all of the so-called “land” disciplines of an Olympic delegation, individual and collective. Le Dôme, the swimming pool on the edge of the forest, is also a wonderful tool just a stone's throw from the city center. It is accessible by the future tram 13, a station of which is also planned in front of the stadium. We have worked with Team GB to best meet the needs of their athletes, with an upgrade to facilities including the athletics track and indoor performance hall on the stadium site. We have also mobilized the entire Saint-German economic fabric in order to involve hoteliers, businesses and the entire population very early on. They will be brought together in an ad hoc structure, the JOP 2024 Council.
How will you support the presence of the British delegation?
Arnaud Pericard: The hospitality of a town as welcoming and international as ours no longer needs to be demonstrated. It clearly made the difference in our favor, as did its setting as a royal city, on the outskirts of Paris. Volunteer residents will accompany Team GB during its preparation, as they will be able to do during the Games. Meetings are planned during these almost two years, a constant exchange for a lasting legacy on our territory. It was really important, for them and for us, to think about the impact of their visit to our city, whether through our investments, through what they could bring or through meetings with the public. We know that the decision of the British delegation also comes from our ambition on this aspect of heritage. The city's services are mobilized to create the link between Team GB and our territory, on a sporting, technical, structural, organizational level and in terms of relations and exchanges with residents and sports associations. Saint-Germain-en-Laye will facilitate all future procedures for Team GB: negotiations with local stakeholders, administrative procedures, etc.
What will be the next steps in this partnership?
Andy Anson: We will work to finalize the details of the agreement and continue to develop our excellent relationship. We are planning a cultural exchange and will visit with athletes to organize their specific training plans before the Games. We will also work on ways to present Saint-Germain-en-Laye to our partners, particularly commercial ones. We want them, too, to enjoy this high-performance environment and get the most out of it.
Arnaud Pericard: Finalize the reception details and “get the ball rolling”. From next year, British teams (athletics in particular) should come to train in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Another important step: the launch of the legacy project. It must connect our population to the Olympic Games and promote Saint-Germain-en-Laye as a CPJ of Team GB, through cultural exchanges, work with our schools, conferences and events, all markers of our partnership with a major Olympic delegation.
