Pré Catelan, an Olympic Tale - XXXIII Giochi Olimpici Estivi Parigi 2024

Pré Catelan

An Olympic Tale

Inaugurated in 1856, Le Pré Catelan was, from the outset, a huge success. Set in the heart of the Bois de Boulogne park, five minutes from the Champs Elysées, it was appreciated for the quality of its orchestras and the sophistication of its festivals, quickly turning it into one of the most frequented venues in the French capital.

But it was on the evening of 23 June 1894 that the elegant Napoleon III-style pavilion became indelibly stamped in the pages of international sporting history.
A few hours earlier, at the first Olympic Congress held in Paris, the Comité International Olympique was born, with Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who, within the walls of La Sorbonne University, had illustrated his most ambitious project: to re-establish the ancient Olympic Games.

On that day, a milestone was laid in the history of Olympism, inaugurating a new course in the five-ring movement that was celebrated with a sumptuous banquet set up in one of the 12 reception rooms of Le Pré Catelan.

That evening, as the lamplight reflected off the waters of the lake, Pierre de Coubertin felt he had achieved the impossible, having sparked a revolution in world sport. And after eight days of work, the Baron enthusiastically raised a toast with the colleagues who had endorsed his Olympic idea in the auditorium of La Sorbonne.

I lift my glass to the Olympic idea, which has traversed the mists of the ages like an all-powerful ray of sunlight and returned to illuminate the threshold of the twentieth century with a dream of joyous hope.

The history of Le Pré Catelan has since become inextricably linked to that of the Olympic movement. 130 years later, that magical bond continues with Casa Italia, the hospitality house that will celebrate the athletes from Italia Team at Paris 2024.