In preparation for a 2024 Olympic bid, Paris transformed the area around the river Seine into an Olympic park, hosting events on Friday and Saturday to make one final push for the rights to host the games.
The last time the French capital hosted the event would be 100 years earlier, in 1924.
Paris and Los Angeles are the only two cities competing to host the games. Los Angeles last hosted the event in 1984.
“It’s a way of saying, look, how we want to celebrate with the whole world by hosting the games, we hope, and then Tony and I made a bet a while ago to kayak along the Seine so it will be a big first for me,” Hidalgo said.
Hidalgo kayaked in the river Seine near the Pont Alexandre III Bridge, alongside former Olympic gold medal canoeist Tony Estanguet, who is leading Paris’ bid to host the event.
“This is a great opportunity for us to give a taster of what the games will be like here in 2024,” Estanguet said.
Paris last attempted to draw a bid for the Olympic Games in 2005, when it lost to Beijing for the rights to the 2008 games, sparking tears in the French camp as results were announced.
The winning city will be announced on September 13, in Lima, Peru. | voanews
