IOC president Bach praises Paris 2024 village

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach Friday said he was "very satisfied" with the Paris 2024's preparation work following his visit to the Olympic Village in the Seine Saint-Denis department, just north of central Paris.

Bach and members from the IOC Executive Committee (EB) finished a four-day session in Paris with their final meeting at Pulse - the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee, followed by a visit to the Olympic Village nearby.

"It's always a great moment to be in an Olympic village because once the Games are over, the athletes will speak about the village," Bach told reporters.

"This is where the heart of the Olympic Games will be and the athletes will have great conditions. From what we would see here it's compact, very pragmatic, but also a wonderful scenery," said Bach.

"The athletes' village is being finalised," said Tony Estanguet, head of the organising committee. "As scheduled, it will be delivered in early March so the organising committee will be able to prepare it for the athletes upon their arrival on July 15."

The Olympics will be held from July 26 to August 11 and after the Paralympics from August 28 to September 8, the village will become a 2,800-apartment neighbourhood, with 25% of them up for sale and the rest will be social housing and apartments up for rent.

At Pulse, the IOC EB heard from Paris 2024 and its delivery partners the latest updates from an important year for the organisation of the Games.

"This year was particularly active, with a number of significant milestones, such as ticket sales, volunteer recruitment, test events and the one-year-to-go milestone, all of which required complex preparations," Estanguet said.

The Paris 2024 report on preparations revolved around three key priorities: operations, budget and engagement.

The Games now have a total of 55 domestic partners. The latest offer of 400,000 tickets was released on Thursday, with 380,000 being sold within 24 hours, meaning a total of 7.5 million tickets out of 10 million overall for the Olympic Games have been sold at this stage.

"This meeting and the reports from the IOC Coordination Commission reassure us that Paris 2024 is well prepared for the coming year," Bach spoke highly of Paris 2024's report.(UNI/XINHUA)<>