By Mimosa Spencer
PARIS (Reuters) – The historic Place de la Concorde marked its debut as an urban sports venue for the Paris Olympics on Sunday, drawing roaring crowds for the women’s skateboarding competition.
Teenage skate champions performed kickflips and backslides on a concrete set in the famous city square, better known for its gilded fountains and sweeping views of key Paris monuments.
“It’s amazing to see the Eiffel tower,” said Anna Hutchings, a social worker from Brighton, U.K., as she and her daughter Charlie, 12, settled into their seats.
The central plaza, which made its mark in history as a guillotine site during the French Revolution, carries deep symbolism.
The country’s National Assembly overlooks the square from the Left bank of the Seine River.
On Bastille Day, French presidents sit with dignitaries here to greet the country’s military parade.
It is also a prestigious venue for fashion shows, with luxury brands like Christian Dior known to build elaborate, art-filled catwalk sets for well-heeled clients and celebrities like K-Pop stars.
On Sunday, families streamed into the venue from the Tuileries Gardens, sidestepping mud-puddles from Saturday’s rain, which had caused the cancellation of men’s skateboarding, originally planned as the debut event.
TALENT RECOGNISED
Maeva Martinez, a street artist and feminist activist known as Kashink, spray painted a wall set up near the food stands.
“We’re trying to do something a bit disruptive,” said Martinez, who grew up in the underprivileged suburbs of Paris in the 1990s, when graffiti burst onto the European art scene.
“It’s very encouraging to see recognition of talent and competence of women in sports and art,” she said, noting she was given “carte blanche” for her art performance.
Families milled around the stands of the sprawling site, shooting hoops and bouncing on a trampoline set up for the festivities.
Breakdancing, 3X3 basketball and BMX freestyle also take place here during the Games, which run until Aug. 11.
When not fitted out for major events, the square serves as a key intersection for traffic, funnelling cars and bicycles from the river Seine to all directions of the city.
“It’s fabulous – this is an emblematic site in Paris,” said Julien Fiorin, a 39-year-old engineer. He snagged tickets at the last minute and brought his son, Raphael, 8, an avid skateboarder from Chelles, France.
“Usually we see a lot of traffic jams here – you can get stuck for two hours here on a normal evening.”
(Reporting by Mimosa Spencer; Additional reportin by Amy Tennery; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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