Olympics 2024

The Olympics 2024, the Summer Olympic Games in France, will be held from 26 July until 11 August 2024 in Paris.

Let’s find out a bit more about the upcoming Summer Olympics and learn some fun facts about this global multi-sports event.

To get some proper insights, let's start with some basic Olympic Games Facts everybody should know:

10 Olympics Facts 

1. The Olympics are one of the most prestigious international sporting event for athletes from around the world.
2. There are Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games which are both held every four years. Summer and Winter Olympics are spaced two years apart.
3. The Olympics are held in different countries every time. Paralympic Games for athletes with impairment are held also every four years in the same country that hosts the Olympics.
4. The original and so-called ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia/ Greece more than 2800 years ago - in 776 BC.
5. The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in the summer of 1896.
6. Pierre de Coubertin from France is the founder of the International Olympic Committee and seen as 'The Father of Olympics'.
7. Since 1904 the first, second and third placed athlete of any event in the Olympics will win a gold, silver or bronze medal. 
8. The Olympic symbol is shown on the Olympic flag. The five rings in blue, yellow, black, green and red are depicted on white background.
9. The Olympic flame is always lit at the Temple of Hera in Olympia in Greece.
10. The Olympic motto is Citius - Altius - Fortius which is from the Latin language and means 'Faster - Higher - Stronger'.
    

Paris Olympics 2024 
Summer Olympics

Now that we all know the basics, we can explore what's going on with the Olympics 2024.

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games are held from 26 July until 11 August in Paris/ France. This is the third time the French capital city Paris hosts the Olympic games.

The first modern Olympics in France were held in 1900 during the World Exposition with 95 events. 997 athletes from 24 countries participated in these Olympic Games and then for the first time, 22 women were amongst the participants. In 1924, the second time Olympic games were hosted in Paris, 3,089 participants from 44 countries joined in. 

In the 2024 Paris Games, 10,500 participants are expected to compete in 329 sporting events. The Paris Olympics will cover 41 Olympic sports and four additional sporting events which are:

• breaking
• sport climbing
• skateboarding
• surfing

The events will be held in 41 venues, not only across mainland France but the surfing event will take in Tahiti, a French overseas territory in French Polynesia! The events of the Olympics will be held in various locations, amongst them the Stade de France, the Champs de Mars Arena, Grand Palais, the La Défense Arena and other venues in Paris and the surrounding suburbs.

Competitions for breaking also referred to be some as breakdancing will be held for the first time at the Paris Olympics. 

Amongst the first sports events of the 2024 Paris Games will be the cycling trials through the city, judo, swimming, diving, shooting and fencing as well as the rugby sevens and skateboarding on Place de la Concorde.

The 2024 Olympic torch will be lit in Olympia/ Greece on 16 April 2024. The torch relay for the Paris Olympics will then travel through France from 8 May 2024 onwards starting in May. In June the torch will also reach the overseas departments of France including Reunion, Guadeloupe and Guyana. From 14 to 15 July the relay will travel through the capital city Paris and then until the Olympic Games start through the Île-de-France.

The torch relay is usually meant to showcase the country's history, natural heritage as well as cultural attractions and the creativity and sports of the country. About 11,000 torchbearers have been selected to carry the torch through France.

See the route of the torch relay here. 

Paris 2024 Olympics

The opening ceremony of the Paris Games will take place on 26 July 2024. For the first time in Olympic history will not be held in a stadium but along the Seine, the main river flowing though Paris, with visitors and spectators lining up along the banks of the Seine. The river parade will run over 6 km/ 3.7 miles.

The Paris Paralympic Games for athletes with impairment will be held from 28 August until 8 September in Paris as well.

The Paris Olympics will take place amidst the ongoing Russian war and thus the participants from Russia and Belarus will only be allowed to take part under a neutral flag. 

But this is not the only Olympics that encounter challenges, read in our Olympics facts about other Olympics such as those in Los Angeles, Moscow and Beijing that were heatedly debated and even boycotted. 

Paris Olympics 2024 | Motto

The slogan of the 2024 Olympic Summer Games in Paris is ''Games Wide Open."

Olympics 2024 | Mascot

The official mascot of the Paris Olympic Summer Games is the Phryge, a symbol of the red French cap or hat.

For the first time in Olympic history, both the Olympic and the Paralympic Games will share the same mascot and the same Olympic emblem or logo.

Paris 2024 Olympics | Logo

The logo of the Paris Olympics is art deco inspired and the arch is the is one of the outstanding brand elements of the 2024 Olympics. 

The logo itself fuses three important emblems of the French Olympic history: the Olympic Flame, the round medal and Marianne.

According to the Olympic Committee this logo "reflects the people-focused, fraternal Games France intends to host." Marianne stands for the values of France: Liberté, egalité and fraternité, which means freedom, equality and fraternity. Marianne is often depicted as woman fighting in the French Revolution, wearing a Phrygian cap. 

Can you see the French Revolution's freedom fighter Marianne in this logo?

Olympics in Paris 2024

Paris is the host city for the Olympics for the third time - after the 1900 and the 1924 Olympics in the same city.

France already hosted the Olympics five times:

• 1900: First Olympics of the modern times during the World Expo.
• 1924: Paris Summer Olympics
• 1924: Chamonix Winter Olympics: inaugural Winter Olympic Games
• 1968: Grenoble Winter Olympics
• 1992: Albertville Winter Olympics

And in 2024, the Summer Olympics will come back to Paris for the third time.

French Olympic Week 2 - 6 April 

In France, the annual 'Olympic and Paralympic Week' will take place from 2 - 6 April 2024. Click on the logo and you will find the official programme and resources for teachers and students. Please note this material is available only in French. 

Take our Olympic Games Quiz

More about the Olympic Games

Olympics 2024 | Resources

• The International Olympic Committee. "Olympic Games." Olympic.org. Last accessed 7 March 2024
• The International Olympic Committee. "Paris Opening Ceremony." Olympic.org. Last accessed 7 March 2024
• The International Olympic Committee. "Olympic House." Olympic.org. Last accessed 7 March 2024
• The International Paralympic Committee. "Paralympics." Paralympic.org. Last accessed 7 March 2024
• The International Olympic Committee. "Breaking". Paris2024. Last accessed 14 March 2024

Images on the Paris Olympics 2024 page: Beijing Olympics Header Image: Mirko Kuzmanovic/ shutterstock.com; torch: KirillS/ shutterstock.com; Mascots: Calvin68/ shutterstock.com; Logo: Kovop58/ shutterstock.com

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