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The Grand Palais sports chronicles: Top 5 sporting events at the Grand Palais
From fencing halls to basketball courts — even skateparks — the Nave of the Grand Palais has hosted a variety of sporting events, reflecting the growing enthusiasm for new sports practices in the 2000s. Let’s look back at 5 bold sporting moments that paved the way for the Grand Palais to become an Olympic venue in 2024.
1. The Pari-roller
June 2009: the Grand Palais welcomes wheels, speed, and stylish slides. Blending discovery, learning, and fun, Pari-Roller takes over the venue for one explosive weekend! With 140 pairs of skates available, kids and adults alike had a chance to experience the thrill of roller skating and fine-tune their braking techniques. Jaw-dropping demonstrations, roller hockey and football matches, and a dedicated exhibit: this event becames a true festival on wheels.
2. The Tony Hawk Show
Picture this: the world’s most famous skateboarder, the largest ramp in Europe, a Parisian historic monument, a world-class music lineup, and an urban art and lifestyle exhibition — it’s the Tony Hawk Show at the Grand Palais!
In 2009, Quiksilver transforms the Nave into a colossal playground for skaters. Global skateboarding icon Tony Hawk arrives with the world’s top ramp riders to tear down the largest skate ramp in Europe, set up right under the glass roof. A truly unforgettable encounter between sport and art in a spectacular setting.
3. The World Fencing Championship
Back in 2010. Swords twinkle, masks clash. Seventy-three years after hosting the French Championship in 1937, fencing makes its grand return to the Grand Palais for a World Championship. This is a first! Both able-bodied and wheelchair fencers compete simultaneously and at the same venue. TThe setting matches the ambition of the event. The performance of the French athletes is electrifying: a total of 16 medals, including 11 for wheelchair fencers. A resounding national triumph!
Passage du peloton dans la Nef, 23 juillet 2017
4. The 2017 Tour de France
It's July 2017, and for the first time in history, the Tour de France cyclists ride through the Grand Palais. Just before the iconic loops on the Champs-Élysées, the peloton stretches out in single file to pass through the nave's North and South carriage doors: a precision challenge for these ace handlebars. Space tightens, tension mounts, but in just a few 30 seconds, the 167 riders cross the 200 meters of the Nave, traversing this narrow passage with perfect coordination. The audience holds its breath, then bursts into applause: a true success.
5. The Paris 2024 Olympic Games
After several years of renovation, the Nave — which was already an Olympic venue 100 years ago — returns in full splendor to host fencing, wheelchair fencing, taekwondo, and para taekwondo for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
In an exceptional architectural setting, at the crossroads of history and sport, the Grand Palais once again shines as a centerpiece of the Olympic celebration, where excellence takes center stage.
