Paris Olympics athletes’ village officially opens

The athletes’ village for the Paris Olympics and Paralympics officially opened and welcomed its first inhabitants on Thursday.

The village to the north of Paris will house nearly 14,500 people, including 9,000 athletes, at its peak.

Eight days before the opening ceremony, the first team members to arrive were from Australia and Brazil.

“We are ready,” the deputy head of the village, Augustin Tran Van Chau, told French media.

Organisers are proud of offering a village that they say does not require air-conditioning to keep residents cool, with temperatures inside set to be at least 6 degrees Celsius (42 Fahrenheit) lower than outside in summer.

Some delegations have ordered their own air-conditioning units anyway.

The village contains a host of innovations intended to make it a model of low-carbon construction.

After they have been used by Olympians and Paralympians between July 26 and September 8, the apartments will be converted into homes, with at least a third destined for public housing.

AFP

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