- A French Olympic diver suffered a painful fall during a ceremonial event
- Emmanuel Macron attended the opening of the new Paris Aquatics Center
- The new center will host water polo, diving and synchronized swimming
French Olympic diver Alexis Jandard was spotted taking an awkward fall on his diving board during the opening ceremony of the newly built Olympic Aquatic Center in Paris.
The ceremony took place on Thursday in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron to open the £154 million (€180 million) purpose-built Aquatics Centre, which is located near the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
The 26-year-old diver, who has qualified for the 2024 Olympics, was seen in a video preparing to somersault into the pool with two other athletes as part of the celebrations.
Jandard, who won silver with Jade Gillet in the team event at the 2022 World Swimming Championships, bounced up and down on his board before landing awkwardly on his right foot.
He then appeared to lose his balance and fell backwards onto his lower back.
French Olympic diver Alexis Jandard slipped and fell on his springboard on Thursday
It happened during an opening ceremony of the Aquatic Center of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris
The diver, who represented France at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the men’s three-metre springboard, went headlong into the water below him.
Jandard won bronze in the 3-meter synchronized world springboard at the World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, last year.
The Aquatics Center is the only permanent sports building to be built for the 2024 Games and will accommodate 5,000 spectators with the addition of a further 2,000 removable seats.
The new building will host water polo, diving and synchronized swimming competitions and will be used for the Paralympic swimming events after the games.
Macron spoke at the ceremony and praised those who helped build the new facility, a French newspaper said RFI: ‘There is a large human chain that made it possible to build this center.
President Emmanuel Macron was present and watched the opening ceremony
The Aquatics Center is the only permanent sports building to be built for the 2024 Games
Jandard won bronze in the 3-meter synchronized world springboard at the 2023 World Swimming Championships
The new center is the only permanent sports building to be built for the 2024 Games
“The elected representatives and local authorities who are funding the project, in addition to the government and all government departments that have monitored the project.
“And I want to congratulate our architects, the contractors and the thousands of journeymen who worked on it.”
Macron added: “We will train our future champions here in these groups and we will be able to practice other sports here.
“You can be proud of what you have around here.”
Diving events at this summer’s Games will take place between July 27 and August 10.
