Calvados, land of sport excellence

Prestavoine Athletics Stadium, located two hours from Paris, opened in 2004 and was renovated in 2014. It is a modern facility open to all users. With various additional spaces (meeting room, storage facility, etc.) and a cryotherapy centre nearby, it is the ideal place for Olympic and Paralympic athletes to prepare for competition. Top athletes from France and around the world descend on the stadium each year for the Hérouville-Saint-Clair athletics meeting.

Normandy Sports Centre is a unique training facility just 1 km from the coast. The centre stands among 12 hectares of stunning grounds and boasts a range of sports and hosting facilities (1 dojo, 3 gyms, 3 outdoor pitches including one artificial pitch, athletics track, accommodation, restaurant, adjoining rooms, etc.), meaning it can host several sports delegations.   

The Alain Mimoun Gymnasium is 1 hour 30 minutes from Paris. The complex, which is open to all users, has a multisports room plus a self-contained, fully equipped fencing room that makes it the ideal Olympic and Paralympic training base.

Halle Pierre Bérégovoy is a sports complex in Mondeville, just a few minutes from Caen. The facility is ideal for basketball (main room, which hosts women’s professional basketball matches) and table tennis (secondary room). The complex also has additional spaces: a meeting room, a restaurant and kitchen, a press room, an office, a treatment room, storage facilities, and more. A gym can even be installed if required. It is the ideal place to prepare for Olympic and Paralympic competition.

The Henry Jeanne Sports Park is in an incredibly scenic location near the botanic gardens. Renovated in 2006, the stadium offers an excellent practice area and seating capacity for 3,444 spectators. Its location, close to a wide range of other facilities (hotels, restaurants, pool, etc.), makes it the ideal place for preparatory training. With the area’s cultural and historic heritage and its proximity to the coast, there are plenty of options for rest and recovery.

Located on 8 hectares, the International Horse Pole is a unique place in Normandy, with high-end infrastructure and equipment (especially new generation soils) and offering a wide range of activities and possibilities. Situated 2 hours from Paris by motorway, its large indoor riding ring allows the organisation of competitions in different disciplines throughout the year.  Fans and best riders in the world meet in 80 days of national and international competitions. They have 3 rides and 4 large guarries, 145 FEI-standars boxes and all services needed to stay on competitive teams. The disciplines practices are mainly those of show jumping, dressage and para-dressage. These facilities were the only "official rear base" of the 2014 World Equestrian Games.

The International Horse Pole is near the beach and the Equine Locomotor Affections Imaging and Research Centre (CIRACLE).

The Eugène Maës Watersports Arena is situated in the centre of Caen, just two hours from Paris. It is located opposite the racecourse, with plenty of parking nearby.  The arena is a modern facility that has been fully renovated and re-opened in September 2017. It is open to users of all abilities. It boasts an outdoor 50-metre, 8-lane pool and an indoor 25-metre pool, which can be used as a warm-up or recovery area. The complex also has a 19-capacity meeting room, a team leader’s office overlooking the pools, storage facilities and an anti-doping testing facility, making it the ideal place for Olympic and Paralympic athletes to prepare for competition.

The field hockey pitch is located in the Joseph Déterville sports complex. The quality of the pitch and the adjoining facilities make the complex ideal for elite hockey teams.

The watersports centre is located on the canal between Caen and the coast, close to Caen city centre. The water is shielded from the wind, offering perfect conditions for various watersports.

The Normandy Tennis League centre, which opened in 2000, is in Honfleur, less than 2 hours from Paris. It is a modern facility that includes 7 outdoor clay courts, all of which were fully renovated in 2016. The centre is a federal training base where young players from across Normandy can train all year round. 

The leisure park, located 2 hours from Paris, meets the sporting demands of top football clubs. With major hotels and outstanding facilities nearby (heated salt-water swimming pool, spa, etc.), the leisure park boasts 5 football pitches, including an “elite” pitch that has hosted international professional teams (including the Croatian national side for the 2016 European Championships).

The Pôle Omni’Sports (POM’S) is a multisports complex in the centre of Deauville, a seaside resort 2 hours from Paris, between the train station and the marina. The facilities meet the very latest standards. The complex, spanning more than 1,200 m², is the ideal place to host competitions across a range of disciplines, including handball, basketball, archery, badminton, gymnastics, karate, and more. It features a multisports room with wooden flooring, a table tennis room, a dojo, and a gym. 

Bretteville-sur-Odon Regional Shooting Centre opened in 2015. It stands on the outskirts of Caen, 2 hours from Paris and 5 minutes from Caen Airport. The centre boasts everything shooters need to practice their discipline in optimal conditions.  The training centre is used by French international competitor Eric Delaunay. 

The Venoix complex is the training and practice facility for Stade Malherbe de Caen, a club that plays in Ligue 1 of the French football championships. It boasts top-level facilities: a hybrid pitch, an artificial pitch and an artificial 1/2 pitch.

The Les Coteaux Gymnasium is located in Argences, 2 hours from Paris and 20 minutes from Caen. The facility, which opened in 2017, includes a dojo and a climbing wall. In addition to indoor pursuits, there is also a training facility nearby (athletics track, indoor and outdoor pitches and courts) and an aquatic centre. With all these sports facilities located so close together, the gymnasium is the ideal place for athletes to prepare.

The Multi-activity Centre, located less than 1 hour 30 minutes (150 km) from Paris and opened in 2011, is a modern facility open to all users with a green roof. With various additional spaces (19-capacity meeting room, 90-capacity club house, storage facility and private parking), it is the ideal place for Olympic and Paralympic athletes to prepare for competition.

The Falaise Archery Centre and Range, 40 km from Caen, is an outstanding facility and the only centre of its type in Normandy.  The town of Falaise has a strong sporting pedigree, with various high-quality facilities for the 3,600-strong community of sports club members.

The Didier Bianco Sports Centre, which opened in 2006, is located 40 km from Caen. It is a well-respected facility popular with athletes from around the region. It can host national-level competitions, such as the Under-18 Boys’ French Handball Championships, which took place at the complex in 2014. The town of Falaise has a strong sporting pedigree, with various high-quality facilities for the 3,600-strong community of sports club members.

The Zénith de Caen, which opened on 19 June 1993, is a large-capacity auditorium. With its modular layout, it can accommodate upwards of 900 seated spectators and is approved for audiences (standing and seating) of up to 6,990. In the 25 years since it opened, the Zénith has played host to more than 2,000 shows and events, attended by almost 5.4 million spectators. The auditorium is a modern facility designed chiefly for performing arts shows, but it is also accredited to host major sporting events. The offices, dressing rooms and other spaces can be turned into press rooms or physiotherapy rooms, or converted for other purposes as required.

The Hélitas Stadium is located in the city centre, among unique landscaped grounds. The track and jumping pits were fully renovated in 2018, using “gold” Tartan to bring the stadium up to international standards.

Inaugurated in 2019, the nautical base is located on the canal linking Caen to the sea, in the immediate vicinity of the city center, its train station, its hotels and restaurants. The basin is protected from the winds and offers ideal conditions for the practice of nautical disciplines. The base also offers beautiful interior volumes on a total of 1000m²: 8 changing rooms, 2 classrooms and briefing rooms as well as a large reception area of 150 m² extended by a balcony on the 1st floor, offices, a shared kitchen, storage spaces.