Paris 2024 Summer Olympics

At its 131st Session in Lima, Peru, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) made a historic decision for the organization on 13 September 2017 by simultaneously selecting Paris as the host city for the 2024 Summer Games and Los Angeles as the host city for the 2028 Games [1].

Before the election, other cities (Hamburg, Budapest and Rome) in addition to Paris and Los Angeles had applied to host the Games in 2024, but all had withdrawn their applications for various reasons. A process was then organized for the two remaining cities before the IOC's decision in September 2017. For Paris, the decision meant that the city would host the Summer Games for the third time, as the Games were also held in Paris in 1900 and 1924.

Paris 2024 in Numbers and Participants

The Games in Paris will be held in the period from 26 July to 11 August 2024. However, the competitions in a few sports will begin on 24 July [2].

The program in Paris will include competitions in 329 disciplines in 32 sports according to the IOC's regulations (35 sports according to olympiandatabase.com's classification). The 32 sports include 28 sports that have been part of the Olympic Games for many years, and four sports that are on the program at the proposal of the organizers in Paris. The four optional sports are breaking, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing. Among these, the last three were also on the program as optional sports at the recent Summer Games in Tokyo in 2021, but breaking will make its Olympic debut in Paris.

It is expected that around 10.500 athletes from around 205 nations will participate in the Games in Paris. The athletes qualify for participation in the Games according to rules, which may include meeting qualification requirements, placing on rankings, wild cards, etc. The rules vary from sport to sport and are set by the IOC and the international sport federations jointly. In Paris, for the first time, there will be a balance in the number of athletes between women and men.

On the background of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the IOC has excluded Russia and Belarus from participation in the Paris Games. Currently, the IOC has organized a procedure that enables athletes from the two countries - who have not expressed active support for the war - to participate as neutral individuals under a number of conditions. During the Games, there must be no connection with the two excluded countries, including national symbols such as flags, national anthems, clothing, etc. The IOC has produced a symbol called Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN), which must be used by the athletes in question [3].

Things to notice

Up to 40 sports arenas are ready for the competitions, the vast majority in Paris or the immediate area around Paris [4]. From the pretty spectacular programme, it can be noted that,

• The opening ceremony on July 26 is planned with a parade of boats on the Seine bringing the athletes to the Jardins du Trocadero, where the actual ceremony will take place in a temporary stadium.
• The 77.000-capacity Stade de France has been named as an alternative option at the opening if necessary. The Stade de France will also be the setting for the athletics and rugby competitions, as well as the closing ceremony on 11 August.
• The tennis tournament is held at the legendary Stade Roland-Garros.
• The sailing competitions will take place in the Mediterranean Sea at the Marseille Marina.
• The opening matches in football are played at stadiums in, among others, Nantes, Lyon, Marseille and Nice. The finals are played at the Parc des Princes in Paris.
• A temporary stadium, the Eiffel Tower Stadium, has been built at the Eiffel Tower, where the matches in beach volleyball will be played.
• The surfing competitions are held in Teahupo’o, Tahiti in French Polynesia.
• The equestrian competitions will take place in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles.