Beneath the 3,000-year-old Luxor Obelisk, skateboarders will drop into bowls and teams of three will dribble down court at a series of temporary facilities dubbed the Concorde Urban Park. This urban park is located within the same square where Marie Antoinette was executed by guillotine in 1793, and it’s now playing host to skateboarding, BMX freestyle, breaking, and 3×3 basketball events at the Paris Summer Olympics.
It was no easy feat to build facilities for a sport typically practiced on nondescript staircases and back alleys. The 2021 Tokyo Olympics received backlash for bringing skateboarding, once known for its outlaw spirit, to a mainstream stage. This will be the second time skateboarding has been an event at the Olympics, following its debut in Tokyo, and the first time breaking, essentially street dancing, has been in the games.
The competitions will be held at Place de la Concorde, the largest square in Paris, located in the eighth arrondissement at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. In the 18th century, the octagonal plaza became the bloody center of the French Revolution—the guillotine killed 1,110 people at the Place de la Concorde. Since then, the square has been the site of numerous celebrations: the end of the World War I, the Liberation of Paris in World War II, and, more recently, the French national team’s victory in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
At the Concorde Urban Park, numerous ramps and rails will be built for street skating. Temporary skateboarding bowls—essentially, sunken, concrete basins—are situated around the Luxor Obelisk, a gift to the square from the Egyptians in 1836. Spectator stands flank the bowls, accommodating 37,000 attendees daily. Concerts, exhibitions, and sports demonstrations will unfold over the course of the games. Tents and chairs across the park offer respite from the heat and sun of the Parisian summer.
The temporary bowls seen in Concorde Urban Park, bordered by thousands of fans, are an obvious contrast to their earlier ancestor: the empty California pools once sought out by skaters in the 1970s. In Paris, skateboarders usually flock to the steps of Le Dome, in front of the Le Palais de Tokyo.
In other ways, the Concorde Urban Park—integrated within one of the most quintessential parts of the French capital—aligns with skateboarding’s consistently urban ethos. French skateboarder Charlotte Hym, slated to participate in the Olympics, said of the venue: “Practicing in Paris, in the middle of the city, is exactly what skating is all about.”
The Concorde Urban Park is one of many Olympic venues erected in unique locations across Paris. There are sand beach volleyball courts beneath the Eiffel Tower, fencing pistes in the Grand Palais, and equestrian arenas at Versailles. The Aquatics Center, which will house the water polo and diving events, remains the only permanent venue built for the games.
At the Concorde Urban Park, there will be two categories for the skateboarding events: street and park. The events will be held on July 27 and 28, and August 6 and 7. It will also host 3×3 basketball, BMX, and breaking.
