'The heart of the city': Paris prepares to refashion 2024 Olympics with urban look

Paris is putting on its game face to welcome the world for an Olympics it hopes will transform the look and feel of the event and burnish its image in the eyes of the world.

"We are going to the heart of the city and leaving the stadiums," Pierre Rabadan, Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of Sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games told AFP.

It is a change of model for the Olympics, whose centre of gravity has long been a suburban main stadium.

"Once we are in the city centre, it's going to be special because that's a field of play and no other cities have done that," the International Olympic Committee's Executive Director of the Olympic Games, Christophe Dubi, told AFP.

"The Games adapt to the city and the region and not the reverse."

The Olympics have long been a made-for-TV spectacular with a global audience of billions, but in Paris the Games are going on location.

"When you watch this on TV, you will know it's in Paris. There will be no doubt these are the Games of Paris, whether it is the colours you use or the architecture that you see, instantly you'll know you're in Paris," Lambis Konstantinidis, the Executive Director of Coordination and Planning for the organising committee (COJO), told AFP.

The number of building projects required for any Olympics presents logistical challenges but creating a series of temporary venues in the heart of a city, whose residents are famed for complaining at an Olympic level, has presented particular challenges.

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