Paris 2024 Olympic Games: at the Palace of Versailles, gold, earth and backhoe loaders to host the equestrian events

La château de Versailles accueillera les épreuves d’équitation. MAXPPP – CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON

La château de Versailles accueillera les épreuves d’équitation. MAXPPP – CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON

Gilding and hundreds of tons of earth and fill moved to install cross-country tracks, quarries, stands and logistics: 119 days before the Paris Olympics, the Palace of Versailles is working hard to host the Olympic Games. rsquo;horse riding.

Approximately "70 %" work has been completed, assured Lorick Joseph, of the Olympic organizing committee, presenting the site to the press this Friday, March 29.

This is the pool of Apollo, a golden lead fountain statue and symbol of the Sun King, located in the main axis of the royal palace, which inaugurated this & quot;stopover point" : completely restored for the Olympic Games, it was put back into the water for the first time in front of dozens of photographers and cameras from around the world immortalizing its jets of water with a background of baroque music.

This statue by Jean-Baptiste Tuby represents the god Apollo on his chariot pulled by four horses, and surrounded by another god, Phaethon, tritons and dolphins.

The horse at Versailles

Omnipresent in many works of art in the Palace of Versailles, the horse was an integral part of the daily life of kings and the court under the Ancien Régime that ;it is hunting, entertainment, transport or war.

The large and small stables, located opposite the castle, then housed 1,500 horses, to which an exhibition will pay tribute from July 2. Today they house a gallery of carriages, sculptures and casts from the Louvre Museum in particular as well as a campus which offers training in artistic professions.

Benefiting from the ancestral know-how of artistic craftsmen, the gate of honor of the castle was also restored in 2023 to mark the 400th anniversary of the castle and 800 hectare estate, classified as a UNESCO world heritage site and visited by eight million tourists last year. Still partially dressed in a shimmering coat, she will soon be fully revealed to the public.

Several km from the Apollon basin, backhoe loaders, gardeners and workers are busy preparing the cross-country track, a spectacular Olympic event which will take horses and riders along a course of 5.3 kilometers, with 28 natural obstacles including several water crossings, through the royal domain. Forty thousand visitors distributed in the natural space behind ropes delimiting the course will be able to attend this event, according to the Cojo.

Animal welfare

"A homogeneous track, of the same density in the undergrowth, clearings and paths, was stripped, sanded and replanted in places ; the two pontoons allowing horses to cross the grand canal have also been adapted and tested so that they can take their call and land without injury", specified to the& rsquo;AFP Jean Morel, former rider and sports director of this Olympic site.

At the west end of the park and near the grand canal, the main site, known as the Royal Star, has also been largely installed: stands fill three U-shaped stands which can be accommodate a total of 16,300 people around the main arena (dressage, show jumping) of 8,000 m2. Located three km away from the castle and the large canal, it does not yet have its covering.

Nearby, two of the three training quarries have already received their white sand floors. A 700-meter galloping track has also been installed for horses in the shade of trees, as well as a huge area to accommodate 200 boxes "under air-conditioned tents", according to Mr. Morel.

Numerous generators have already taken place on land which will also house a veterinary clinic, control stands and other logistical means necessary for the competition, adds this specialist, concerned, like many others; others, "animal welfare".

After the Olympics, all these temporary infrastructures must be dismantled and the site restored to its historic state. The Olympic equestrian events will take place from July 27 to August 6. The Palace of Versailles will also host the dressage events of the Paralympic Games, from September 3 to 7, and the five modern pentathlon events.