(CNN) It's probably best-known for being one of the most scenic and romantic cities in the world, but the "City of Light" is also busy transforming itself into a sporting mecca, starting with this weekend's Ryder Cup, staged on French soil for the first time, and culminating with the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
Golf history will be made when Europe take on the US in the 42nd Ryder Cup at the Golf National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines course just outside of Paris, which is set to become the first in the world to stage both the elite team golf event and the Olympics.
The Golf National, located close to the Palace of Versailles, opened in October 1990. It has two 18-hole courses and one 9-hole course, and is one of a host of existing venues that will help stage the city's third Summer Games.
Greenkeepers make the final touches to Le Golf National in Paris ahead of the 2018 Ryder Cup.
"Delivering a spectacular Games is our collective goal," Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, told CNN Sport. "But Paris 2024 has to be a useful project, not just from 2018 to 2024, but also for the next decade, so that it can benefit future generations."
Although some Olympic cities built as many as 10 new permanent venues, raising concerns about ballooning budgets and waste, Paris 2024 organizers will construct just one brand new sports facility: the Aquatics Centre.
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A state-of-the-art pool facility will be built close to the Stade de France in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, the poorest county in France. The area will also play host to the Athlete's Village, which will be turned into housing after the Games.
"Fifty percent of children age 11 living in Seine-Saint-Denis do not know how to swim," said Estanguet, a three-time Olympic canoeing champion. "This is partly why we decided to build a permanent swimming pool in a department, where a very small part of the population had access to this kind of facility."
Paris will host the Summer Olympic Games in 2024.
Estanguet pointed out 70% of all Olympic venues already exist, including Roland-Garros, which will host the tennis; the Stade de France, built for the 1998 World Cup, where the athletics and opening and closing ceremonies will take place, and the Velodrome for the cycling events.
After years of stalemate over the extension of its cramped site, the city's winning Olympic bid kickstarted plans to refurbish Roland-Garros, which hosts the French Open tennis event.
The smallest of the four tennis majors, and the only one without a roof, builders started work on the 90-year-old site just a few hours after Rafael Nadal of Spain won a record-extending 11th French Open title in June.
Once completed, Roland-Garros will have a retractable roof over its main center court, a brand new showcourt in the adjacent botanical gardens and a new media centre.
President of the Paris 2024 organizing committee Tony Estanguet told CNN he was planning a spectacular Games.
But it's not just future Olympic venues that are getting an overhaul. Not far from Roland-Garros, horse racing's Longchamp racecourse has also undergone a major upgrade.
The track, which has hosted the sport's richest race on turf, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, for more than 150 years, opened its doors again this year after a three-year, $145 million refurbishment.
The track, in the leafy Bois de Boulogne in western Paris, has replaced its two grandstands, which dated back to the 1960s, with a single a 10,000-seater grandstand.
"It will really be a green bubble for Parisians, just 10 minutes from L'Arc De Triomphe," Olivier Delloye, who heads governing body France Galop, told CNN Sport last year.
Tiger Woods: From highs to lows
Tiger Woods clinched his fifth Masters and 15th major title with victory at Augusta in April.
The former world No. 1 had not won the Masters since 2005, and it was his first major win since 2008.
A month after winning the Masters, Woods received the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, from President Donald Trump.
Woods won the season-ending Tour Championship in September 2018. It was his first title in five years following a succession of back injuries.
Signs that Woods was back to his best were obvious at August's PGA Championship, where he finished runner-up to Brooks Koepka. It followed an impressive showing at July's British Open, where he briefly topped the leaderboard.
Woods made an impressive return to competitive golf in 2018 after multiple back surgeries in recent years. He played his first Masters in three years in April 2018.
The four-time champion had back fusion surgery -- his fourth procedure -- in April 2017 and returned to the game pain-free in December. He finished tied 32nd at Augusta.
Woods was touted as one of the favorites after impressing in his early-season events. He also set tongues wagging by playing a practice round with old rival Phil Mickelson, right.
Woods finished tied second at the Valspar Championship in March 2018 and followed it up with a tie for fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. The hype needle moved into overdrive.
Woods set out on his legendary path by becoming the youngest winner of the Masters -- at 21 -- with a record 12-shot win in 1997.
One of his most remarkable feats was winning his first US Open by an unprecedented 15 shots at Pebble Beach, California, in 2000, sparking a streak never seen before or since.
Woods' victory in the 2001 Masters meant he held all four of golf's major titles at the same time, dubbed the "Tiger Slam."
Woods' win rate, his dedication to fitness training and his desire to succeed were changing golf. Prize money rocketed because of Woods. Off the course, he married girlfriend Elin Nordegren in 2004.
Woods showed rare emotion when he broke down in tears on the shoulder of caddie Steve Williams following his win in the 2006 British Open at Hoylake, months after his father and mentor Earl passed away.
Despite being visibly hampered and in pain from a knee injury, Woods won the US Open in breathtaking fashion at Torrey Pines, California, in 2008. It was his 14th major title to leave him only four behind the record of Jack Nicklaus. He was later diagnosed with knee ligament damage and two fractures of his left tibia. He missed the rest of the season after surgery. It is still his last major title.
In December 2009, Woods crashed his car into a fire hydrant outside his home. As the big picture emerged it was discovered Woods had been conducting a series of extra martial affairs. He took three months away from the game to sort out his private life.
In February 2010 Woods addressed the world's media to explain and apologise for his actions. His infidelity led to divorce and was the beginning of a downhill slide in Woods' playing career. By October he lost the world No. 1 ranking, a position he had held for 281 consecutive weeks
Back in the fold, Woods earned his first win in two years at the
Chevron World Challenge in December 2011, a charity tournament he hosts that does not count on the PGA Tour money list.
Woods was back in the winner's circle in 2013, lifting five titles, including the Arnold Palmer Invitational, to get back to the top of the rankings.
In March 2013, Woods and Lindsey Vonn announced
they were dating on Facebook. In January that year, the champion skier had finalized her divorce from Thomas Vonn, after initializing proceedings in 2011. In May 2015, Woods and Vonn announced their breakup, with the golfer claiming he "hadn't slept" in the days following.
Later in 2013 there were signs all was not well as Woods was seen to be in pain as he picked the ball out of the hole at the Barclays tournament in August. He missed the Masters the following April for the first time since 1994 to undergo back surgery.
Woods pulled out of the Farmers Insurance Open in February 2015, and struggled with injury and form for the rest of the season.
Woods cut a dejected figure at that year's US Open as he struggled with his game and carded rounds of 80 and 76 to miss the cut.
In August 2015 Woods made his last appearance for 15 months to undergo follow-up back surgeries. At one stage during his rehabilitation, Woods spoke of there being "no light at the end of the tunnel" -- and with one eye on his fading career, he suggested "everything beyond this will be gravy."
Woods made a much-anticipated return to golf in December 2016, showing signs of promise with the highest number of birdies in the field -- 24 -- but he also made a number of costly errors to finish third from last in the 18-man event.
He missed the cut in his first event of 2017 in the US and pulled out after the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic in February, citing back spasms. He underwent a fourth back prodecure in April.
The golf legend
was arrested Monday, May 29, on suspicion of driving under the influence. He was booked into a local jail in Florida and released a few hours later. He said in a statement he had "an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications."
In August Woods entered a first-offender program and pleaded guilty to reckless driving on October 28. He will avoid jail unless he commits major violations of his probation.
Woods returned to golf after 301 days at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas on November 30 2017. He carded a three-under first-round 69 and appeared pain-free and hungry to resume his career.
For Olympic organizers, this weekend's Ryder Cup is an an important test event.
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The competition, the third-most watched sports event in the world after the Olympics and the World Cup with 1.3 billion viewers, is expected to attract more than 270,000 spectators from Tuesday through Sunday.
The Ryder Cup "offers an invaluable opportunity to refine our planning and get a better sense of what challenges are involved in hosting the tournament," at the Golf National, Estanguet said in a Paris 2024 press release earlier this week.
INTERACTIVE: Ryder Cup moments
"This huge event is also another opportunity to demonstrate France's 'savoir-faire' in staging major international gatherings," added Estanguet. "And the Ryder Cup will allow us to lay the groundwork, together with the French Golf Federation, for the legacy that Paris 2024 can help to create with the Games."
Estanguet hopes the events such as the Ryder Cup will help to boost engagement with sport.
"If you look at the recent World Cup it's been amazing to see how much the French public were able to go into the street and share this fantastic moment, so the challenge for us is to make this happen in all of the sports," he told CNN Sport at Le Golf National Wednesday.
"The Ryder Cup is an historical moment for France and I'm sure it will impact a lot on the French public. The emotions that this kind of moment can provide has a benefit directly on life.
"Sport can change a life, I'm convinced by this -- it changed my life -- and the idea is to engage the public more and change more lives of more people."
Additional reporting by Rob Hodgetts