By Helen Reid
PARIS (Reuters) – Dance performances, DJ sets and sports greats including Serena Williams are set to entertain visitors at a free, unticketed Paris Olympics fanzone where medal winners from around the world will be invited to strut their stuff down a catwalk in front of the Eiffel Tower.
France’s rugby sevens gold medallists will open the “Parc des Champions” venue, in the Trocadero Gardens, on Monday evening, and expectations will be high after scrum-half Antoine Dupont and his team put on a choreographed victory dance for an ecstatic Stade de France crowd on Saturday.
“We wanted something more intimate, less formal than a typical medal ceremony, so we decided on this idea of a parade, or a catwalk, where every athlete will be able to express themselves, their culture and their values,” said Martin Fourcade, president of the Paris 2024 Athletes’ Commission.
The fanzone is free of charge, with a capacity of 13,000 and entry on a first-come first-served basis, setting it apart from country hospitality houses where access can cost more than a hundred dollars, with fans paying extra to meet their sporting heroes.
Drag dancers will bring a sports-themed “voguing” ball to the Trocadéro stage, with other acts including a 40-strong contemporary ballet troupe dressed in unisex black kilts performing extracts from Swan Lake by star choreographer Angelin Preljocaj. Voguing is a dance style that grew out of African American LGBT communities in Harlem, and is marked by angular body and hand movements and photographic poses.
The Trocadero Gardens venue was the setting for some of the key scenes of Friday’s opening ceremony, and where French President Emmanuel Macron and dignitaries from around the world watched the proceedings with the best view of Celine Dion’s Eiffel Tower performance.
Retired New Zealand rugby player Dan Carter will host the fanzone on Monday, with subsequent hosts including French-American former basketball player Tony Parker, U.S. track and field star Carl Lewis, and retired French sprinter Marie-José Perec as well as tennis legend Williams.
“To have a concept like this where the Olympic champions can come and interact with the fans is something really unique and really special, not just for the fans… but also for the athletes,” said Carter.
Athletes and their entourage – up to four family members each – will be hosted in a Louis Vuitton lounge, be pampered by Sephora make-up artists and plied with Hennessy drinks, as part of luxury conglomerate LVMH’s sponsorship of the Paris Games.
The cognac may not flow freely for everyone, though: the Olympians set to attend on Monday include 14-year-old women’s skateboard gold medallist Coco Yoshizawa of Japan, and silver medallist Liz Akama who is 15.
(Reporting by Helen Reid, Editing by William Maclean)
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