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Some of the appeal of the Olympic Games is that all sports are treated equally. During the Games, therefore, internationally famous athletes, including the superstars of basketball and tennis, share the spotlight with athletes who compete in disciplines that, although not as well known to the public, are no less important and demand no less commitment and training. A good example is beach volleyball.
Paris 2024 will mark the eighth time that the sport has been part of the Olympic program, after it was introduced at the Atlanta Games in 1996. Since then, beach volleyball has been played in newly built arenas, such as in Beijing, London, and Tokyo, or on the beach, such as the marvelous court in Copacabana at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 and on Sydney’s Bondi Beach in 2000. Scheduled for July 26 – August 11, the 2024 Paris Olympics will hold the event at an exceptional location, with the matches taking place in a temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars gardens, with views of the Eiffel Tower.
As one of Paris’s most iconic public gardens, Champ-de-Mars attracts crowds daily to play sports, admire the views, or simply take a stroll through the greenery. And this is the setting for Tour Eiffel Stadium, the temporary outdoor arena to host beach volleyball at the Paris 2024 Games.
The first match is scheduled for July 27, the first day of the Games. Once again, the favorites are the United States and Brazil, with the US team boasting 11 Olympic medals from previous Games (seven gold, two silver, and two bronze in the men’s and women’s categories), and Brazil, 13 (three gold, seven silver, and three bronze). Italy, though, has just the one silver, won by the historic men’s team of Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai at Rio de Janeiro 2016. Competing for Italy in Paris will be Cottafava-Nicolai and Ranghieri-Carambula, in the men’s pairs, and Gottardi-Menegatti in the women’s.
Tour Eiffel Stadium is a rectangular outdoor arena seating up to 12,860. It’s the only venue that will be removed once the Games are over. However, that won’t happen before the end of the Paralympics, when the venue will host blind football.
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