Paris Olympic hockey stadium inaugurated

Article posted by Coliseum, March 26^th, 2024

Image: Hauts-de-Seine Department

The Yves-du-Manoir Stadium in Colombes, France, which has been renovated for the Paris Olympic Games 2024 has been officially inaugurated.

The venue was renovated by the Department of Hauts-de-Seine to host the Olympic field hockey events for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Hosting the Olympic Games twice is a privilege that very few venues will experience. Designed by the architect Louis Faure-Dujarric, Yves-du-Manoir Stadium is one of them.

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It was the main venue for the eighth Olympiad in 1924, staging the opening ceremony and athletics events. A unique venue in France, it is the only one that will host the second Games in its history in 2024.

The century-old stadium has undergone 22 months of renovation. Two synthetic field hockey pitches have been built, one with seating for 1,000 spectators.

The 6,000-capacity spectator stands on the main pitch have been completely redeveloped and will be supplemented by temporary stands installed for the Games.

Owner of the sports venue since 2002, the Department of Hauts-de-Seine undertook the €90 million project.

Until 1972, when the Parc des Princes was inaugurated, the Yves-du-Manoir multi-sports venue, named after a French rugby player who was killed in a plane crash, was the main stadium in the Paris Region.

Located in Colombes, northwest of Paris, it has hosted around 250 national and international competitions over the past century, from athletics to rugby, football and even boxing, including the World Championship in 1972, in front of 40,000 spectators.

Following the Paris 2024 Games, one of the new buildings at Yves du Manoir Stadium will become home to the French Hockey Federation, the Ile-de-France League and the Departmental Hockey Committee.

Two synthetic hockey pitches – one for competitions, with a 1,000-seat stand, and one for training – will be set aside for the Federation’s national training centre.

A second building will be devoted to football and rugby, while four football pitches, three rugby pitches and a new athletics track will be created in the existing activities area.

The Yves-du-Manoir stadium was inaugurated in the presence of Paris Olympics organising head Tony Estanguet, French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra and other dignitaries.

Three-time Olympic medallist Estanguet said, “It’s a wonderful nod to history, to France’s sporting heritage.”

A century ago, the Colombes stadium was the epicentre of the Paris Games, and it was even the site of the opening ceremony on July 5, 1924.

The eighth Olympiad of the modern era, in 1924, featured 3,089 athletes, 135 of whom were women, representing 44 nations and competing in 17 sports. The Colombes stadium hosted football, equestrian events, rugby, gymnastics and, above all, track and field.

The stadium was the scene of 17 world records between 1924 and 1980, 42 French Cup finals between 1924 and 1971, and 79 matches of the French national football team.

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