"Paris 2024", "2024 Olympics", and "2024 Paris Olympics" redirect here. For the Summer Paralympics, see
2024 Summer Paralympics. For the Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon, South Korea, see
2024 Winter Youth Olympics.
The 2024 Summer Olympics,[b] officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad[c] and officially branded as Paris 2024, is an international
multi-sport event taking place from 24 July to 11 August 2024 in France, with the
opening ceremony having taken place on 26 July.
Paris is the host city, with events held in 16 additional cities spread across
Metropolitan France, and one subsite in
Tahiti,
French Polynesia.[4]
Paris was awarded the Games at the
131st IOC Session in
Lima, Peru, on 13 September 2017. After multiple withdrawals that left only
Paris and
Los Angeles in contention, the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved a process to concurrently award the 2024 and
2028 Summer Olympics to the two remaining candidate cities; both of the bids were praised for high technical plans and innovative ways to use a record-breaking number of existing and temporary facilities. Having previously hosted in
1900 and
1924, Paris becomes the second city ever to host the
Summer Olympics three times (after
London, which hosted the
1908,
1948, and
2012 Games).[5][6] Paris 2024 marks the
centenary of Paris 1924 and
Chamonix 1924 (which in turn marks the centenary of the Winter Olympics) and is the sixth Olympic Games hosted by France (three Summer Olympics and three
Winter Olympics) and the first French Olympics since the
1992 Winter Games in
Albertville. The Summer Games returned to the traditional four-year
Olympiad cycle, after the
2020 edition was postponed and instead took place in 2021 because of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The six candidate cities were
Paris,
Hamburg,
Boston,
Budapest,
Rome, and
Los Angeles. The bidding process was slowed by withdrawals, political uncertainty, and deterring costs. Boston surpassed Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, in the official US bid. On 27 July 2015, Boston and the
USOC mutually agreed to terminate Boston's bid to host the Games, partly because of mixed feelings in the city of Boston. Hamburg withdrew its bid on 29 November 2015 after holding a referendum.[12] Rome withdrew on 21 September 2016, citing fiscal difficulties.[13] Budapest withdrew on 22 February 2017, after a petition against the bid collected more signatures than necessary for a referendum.[14][15][16]
Following these withdrawals, the IOC Executive Board met on 9 June 2017 in
Lausanne, Switzerland, to discuss the 2024 and 2028 bid processes.[17][18] The
International Olympic Committee formally proposed electing the 2024 and 2028 Olympic host cities at the same time in 2017, a proposal which an Extraordinary IOC Session approved on 11 July 2017 in Lausanne.[18] The IOC set up a process whereby the LA 2024 and Paris 2024 bid committees met with the IOC to discuss which city would host the Games in 2024 and 2028 and whether it was possible to select the host cities for both at the same time.[19]
Following the decision to award the two games simultaneously, Paris was understood to be the preferred host for 2024. On 31 July 2017, the IOC announced Los Angeles as the sole candidate for 2028,[20][21] enabling Paris to be confirmed as host for 2024. Both decisions were ratified at the
131st IOC Session on 13 September 2017.[22]
The basketball preliminaries and handball finals will be held in
Lille, which is 225 km (140 mi) from the host city, Paris; the sailing and some of the football games will be held in the Mediterranean city of
Marseille, which is 777 km (483 mi) from Paris; meanwhile, the surfing events are expected to be held in
Teahupo'o village in the overseas territory of
French Polynesia, which is 15,716 km (9,765 mi) from Paris. Football will also be hosted in an additional five cities:
Bordeaux,
Décines-Charpieu (
Lyon),
Nantes,
Nice and
Saint-Étienne, some of which are home to Ligue 1 clubs.
President of the Paris 2024 Olympic Organizing Committee, Tony Estanguet, unveiled the
Olympic and Paralympic medals for the Games in February 2024, which on the obverse featured embedded hexagon-shaped tokens of scrap iron that had been taken from the original construction of the
Eiffel Tower, with the Games logo engraved into it.[30] Approximately 5,084 medals would be produced by the French
mintMonnaie de Paris, and were designed by
Chaumet, a luxury jewellery firm based in Paris.[31]
The reverse of the medals features
Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, inside the
Panathenaic Stadium which hosted the
first modern Olympics in 1896. Parthenon and the Eiffel Tower can also be seen in the background on both sides of the medal.[32] Each medal weighs 455–529 g (16–19 oz), has a diameter of 85 mm (3.3 in) and is 9.2 mm (0.36 in) thick.[33] The gold medals are made with 98.8 percent silver and 1.13 percent gold, while the bronze medals are made up with copper, zinc, and tin.[34]
Security
France reached an agreement with
Europol and the
UK Home Office to help strengthen security and "facilitate operational information exchange and international law enforcement cooperation" during the Games.[35] The agreement included a plan to deploy more drones and sea barriers to prevent small boats from crossing
the Channel illegally.[36] The
British Army would also provide support by deploying
Starstreak surface-to-air missile units for air security.[37] To prepare for the Games, the Paris police held inspections and rehearsals in their bomb disposal unit, similar to their preparations for the
2023 Rugby World Cup at the
Stade de France.[38]
As part of a visit to France by
Qatari EmirSheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, several agreements were signed between
the two nations to enhance security for the Olympics.[39] In preparation for the significant security demands and
counterterrorism measures,
Poland pledged to contribute security troops, including sniffer dog handlers, to support international efforts aimed at ensuring the safety of the Games.[40][41] The Qatari Minister of Interior and Commander of Lekhwiya (the Qatari security forces) convened a meeting on 3 April 2024 to discuss security operations ahead of the Olympics, with officials and security leaders in attendance, including
Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Sheikh Jassim bin Mansour Al Thani.[42] A week before the opening ceremony, the Lekhwiya were reported to have been deployed in Paris on 16 July 2024.[43]
In the weeks running up to the opening of the Paris Olympics, it was reported that police officers would be deployed from Belgium,[44] Brazil,[45] Canada (through the RCMP/OPP/CPS),[46][47] Cyprus,[48] the Czech Republic,[49] Denmark,[50] Estonia,[51][52] Finland,[53] Germany (through Bundespolizei[54][55]/NRW Police[56]),[57] India,[58][59] Ireland,[60] Italy,[61] Luxembourg,[62] Morocco,[63] Netherlands,[64] Norway,[47] Poland,[65] Portugal,[66] Slovakia,[67] South Korea,[68][69] Spain (through National Police/Guardia Civil),[70] Sweden,[71] the UAE,[72] the UK,[38] and the US (through the
LAPD[73]/
LASD[74]/
NYPD[75]/
FCPD[76]), with more than 40 countries providing police assistance to their French counterparts.[77][78]
Security concerns impacted the plans that had been announced for the opening ceremony, which was to take place as a public event along the
Seine; the expected attendance was reduced by half from an estimated 600,000 to 300,000, with plans for free viewing locations now being by invitation only. In April 2024, after
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the
Crocus City Hall attack in March, and made several threats against the
UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, French president
Emmanuel Macron indicated that the opening ceremony could be scaled back or re-located if necessary.[79][80][81] French authorities had placed roughly 75,000 police and military officials on the streets of Paris in the lead-up to the Games.[82]
Food
To reduce the environmental impact and climate footprint of the Paris 2024 Games,[83] the Olympic venues will serve twice as much plant-based food as was available in
London in 2012 and
Rio in 2016.[84]Vegan chicken nuggets and
vegan hot dogs will be provided, rather than the meat-based variety, in a bid to make 30% of the menu plant-based.[85]
An estimated 13 million meals will be served at the Games;[83] with around 40,000 meals each day, 1,200 of those will be
Michelin-starred.[85] Each day, a
boulangerie will bake fresh
baguettes and other breads.[86]
A 3,500-seat restaurant was constructed for the Games to highlight global cuisine. Great Britain's team asked for
porridge to be added to the menu, and South Korea's team asked for
kimchi.[85]
Throughout the Games, athletes and competitors at the Olympic Village complained about a lack of certain foods within the accommodation, such as
eggs and
grilled meats.[87] As well as being in short supply, meat was also reportedly served raw. As a result of the ongoing food issues, many athletes have begun to avoid the Olympic village dining facilities and eat elsewhere, while some nations have flown in chefs and food supplies for their delegations.[88][89][90] Great Britain's Olympic Team brought in chefs to prepare food for the British athletes at a location outside the Olympic Village.[91]
Air conditioning
In the lead-up to the Games, it was announced that the Olympic Village would lack
air conditioning; as an environmental measure, the buildings would instead use a
geothermalnatural cooling system to keep the inside temperature 6 °C (11 °F) cooler than outside.[92] On learning this, many teams opted to supply their own air-conditioning units to the Games, including Canada, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Greece, Denmark, and Japan.[93] Olympic delegations from poorer countries, such as Uganda, complained that they could not afford to provide air conditioning for their athletes.[94]
Over €500 million has been invested in transport improvements for the Games,[95] with extensions to the
Paris Métro and 60 kilometres (37 mi) of new cycle lanes.[96][97] Visitors to Paris will pay higher public transport fares during the Games, €4 instead of the previous €2.15 price. This will pay for the increased frequency and hours of service for public transport during the Games, with an average increase of 15% in services.[95][98] As with previous Games, 185 kilometres (115 mi) of reserved traffic lanes will be used to ensure reliable journey times for athletes, officials and the media.[99]
Volunteers
The Paris 2024 volunteer platform for the Olympic and Paralympic Games was opened to the public in March 2023. There were expected to be 45,000 volunteers recruited worldwide for the Games.[100] Following the end of registration on 3 May 2023, over 300,000 applications had been submitted to the Paris Organising Committee, exceeding the number of applicants for the previous two Olympics.[101] Applicants were notified of the outcome of their application between September and December 2023.[102] Over 800 applicants were excluded over security fears, among which 15 were flagged with
Fiche S.[103]
A viewing party for the 2020 Summer Olympics at
Jardins du Trocadéro, which hosted the official protocol for the opening ceremonyThe Olympic cauldron at the
Tuileries Garden
The opening ceremony began at 19:30
CEST (17:30
GMT) on 26 July 2024.[109] Directed by
Thomas Jolly,[110][111][112] it was the first Summer Olympics opening ceremony to be held outside the traditional stadium setting; the
parade of athletes was conducted as a
boat parade along the
Seine from
Pont d'Austerlitz to
Pont d'Iéna, and cultural segments took place at various landmarks along the route.[113] Jolly stated that the ceremony would highlight notable moments in the
history of France, with an overall theme of love and "shared humanity".[113] The athletes then attended the official protocol at
Jardins du Trocadéro, in front of the
Eiffel Tower.[114] Approximately 326,000 tickets were sold for viewing locations along the Seine, 222,000 of which were distributed primarily to the Games' volunteers, youth and low-income families, among others.[115]
Controversy ensued at the opening ceremony when a
segment was thought to parody the
Last Supper. The organisers apologised for any offence caused.[122]
Sports
The programme of the 2024 Summer Olympics features 329 events in 32 sports, encompassing a total of 48 disciplines.[123] This includes the 28 "core" Olympic sports contested in 2016 and 2020,[124] and 4 optional sports that were proposed by the Paris Organising Committee:
breaking is making its Olympic debut as an optional sport, while
skateboarding,
sport climbing, and
surfing are returning to the programme, having debuted at the
2020 Summer Olympics.[125][126][127] Four events have been dropped from weightlifting. In canoeing, two sprint events have been replaced with two slalom events, keeping the overall event total at 16. In sport climbing, the previous "combined" event has been divided into separate "
speed climbing" and "
boulder-and-
lead combined" events for each gender.[128]
In February 2023,
USA Boxing announced its decision to boycott the 2023
World Championships (organised by the
International Boxing Association)—in which Russian and Belarusian athletes were able to compete with no restrictions—and accused the IBA of attempting to sabotage the IOC-approved qualification pathway for the
2024 Summer Olympics. Poland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Canada later joined the US boycott.[129]
When Paris was bidding for the Games in August 2017, the Paris Organising Committee announced an intention to hold talks with the IOC and professional
esports organisations about the possibility of introducing competitive esports events in 2024.[130][131] In July 2018, the IOC confirmed that esports would not be considered for the 2024 Olympics.[126] At the
134th IOC Session in June 2019, the IOC approved the Paris Organising Committee's proposed optional sports of
breaking (
breakdance), along with
skateboarding,
sport climbing, and
surfing, three sports that were first included in 2020.[132][125][126][127]
Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony is scheduled to be held at
Stade de France on 11 August 2024.[112] Titled "Records", the ceremony is set to feature more than a hundred performers, including acrobats, dancers and circus artists.[133] The cultural presentation by
Los Angeles, the host city of the
2028 Summer Olympics, will be produced by
Ben Winston and his studio
Fulwell 73.[134]
This is the official schedule, though the exact schedule can change up until the end of the games.[143]
On 29July, the weather in Tahiti turned dangerous towards the end of round3 of the
men's shortboard event, forcing the cancellation of the
women's third round. The waves continued to be too rough for competition over the next two days, leaving the final women's round and all finals yet to be scheduled.[144] Competition resumed on 1August.[145]
The emblem for the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics was unveiled on 21 October 2019 at the
Grand Rex. Inspired by
Art Deco,[149][150] it is a representation of
Marianne, the
national personification of France, with a flame formed in
negative space by her hair. The emblem also resembles a gold medal. Tony Estanguet explained that the emblem symbolised "the power and the magic of the Games", and the Games being "for people". The use of a female figure also serves as an homage to the
1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, which were the first to
allow women to participate.[151] The emblem was designed by the French designer Sylvain Boyer[149] with the French design agencies
Royalties & Ecobranding.[152][153][149]
The emblem for Paris 2024 was considered the biggest new logo release of 2019 by many design magazines.[149][154] An Opinion Way survey shows that 83 per cent of French people say they like the new Paris 2024 Games emblem. Approval ratings were high, with 82 per cent of those surveyed finding it aesthetically appealing and 78 per cent finding it to be creative.[155] It was met with some mockery on social media, one user commenting that the logo "would be better suited to a dating site or a hair salon".[151]
For the first time, the
2024 Summer Paralympics is sharing the same emblem as its corresponding Olympics, with no difference, reflecting a shared "ambition" between both events.[156]
On 14 November 2022, The Phryges were unveiled as the mascots of the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics; they are a pair of anthropomorphic
Phrygian caps, a historic French symbol of freedom and liberty.[157][158]Marianne is commonly depicted wearing the Phrygian cap, including in the
Eugène Delacroix painting, Liberty Leading the People.[159][160] The two mascots share a motto of "Alone we go faster, but together we go further".[161]
The
Olympic poster for these games was revealed on 4 March 2024. Designed by Ugo Gattoni, the poster uses a diptych design, with one half representing the Olympics and the other half representing the Paralympics. For the first time, the Olympic poster and Paralympic poster were designed together, as each one can work independently as halves, or be combined into one poster all together. The posters took 2,000 hours, across six months to complete.[166][167]
Corporate sponsorship
A TGM Research survey shows that
Coca-Cola is globally the most connected brand with the 2024 Olympics, with 23% of people mentioning it.
Nike comes in second with 16%, despite not being an official sponsor of the Olympic Games.[168] Belgian beverage company
AB InBev became the first Worldwide Olympic Partner during the Games,[169] while Japanese automobile manufacturer
Toyota will not renew its TOP sponsorship, with the company reportedly unhappy with how the IOC has used its sponsorship money.[170][171]
Under an agreement as "Premium" sponsor reportedly valued at €150 million ($163 million), French luxury goods conglomerate
LVMH has been involved in aspects of the Games, with its brand
Louis Vuitton having provided the trunks used to store the Olympic torch and medals, and the outfits and trays for medal presenters. Former IOC marketing head
Michael Payne raised concerns that the prominent use of LVMH goods as part of the Olympics (and in particular, the opening ceremony, which also featured the aforementioned items as props, and performers
Aya Nakamura and
Lady Gaga wearing
Diorhaute coutre) could cause conflicts with other official sponsors, noting that "the direction of stylish sponsor product placement may not be wrong but needs exceptionally careful management. LVMH got a massive free global ad last night and other partners are all going to be asking, how did that work?"[172][173]
In France, domestic rights to the 2024 Summer Olympics are owned by
Warner Bros. Discovery (formerly
Discovery Inc.) via
Eurosport, with free-to-air coverage sublicensed to the country's public broadcaster
France Télévisions.[182] WBD's current streaming platform
Max launched in France ahead of the Games on 11 June 2024, and planned to stream the Games at no additional cost to subscribers.[183][184][185] WBD networks will broadcast from
Hôtel Raphael, with dedicated studios for its British, French, Polish, and Nordic channels.[186]
Several controversial issues occurred related to the 2024 Summer Olympics, including environmental and security concerns,[187][188] human rights,[189] terrorism,[190] and controversies over
allowing Israel to participate amidst the
Israel–Hamas war,[191][192] and allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals amidst the
Russian invasion of Ukraine.[193][194] While there is nominally an
Olympic Truce in place as is usual, the wars in Ukraine and Palestine already set a more conflicted political background to the 2024 Summer Olympics, before considering domestic and sporting issues.[195]
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics sparked significant controversy among
Christians due to a performance that featured drag queens reenacting the painting "
Le Festin des Dieux" by
Jan van Bijlert, which depicts various Greek gods partaking in a banquet at
Mount Olympus. Many perceived the performance as mocking Leonardo da Vinci's "
The Last Supper" which portrays Jesus and his apostles, which led to widespread outrage from Christian groups and religious leaders.[196][197][198]
Critics worldwide, including conservative politicians and religious leaders, condemned the act as blasphemous and deeply offensive. They argued that the portrayal disrespected a sacred Christian event and demanded an apology from the organisers. The artistic director of the ceremony,
Thomas Jolly, stated that the intention had been to promote love and inclusion, not to offend or divide. [199][200] The organisers apologised, emphasising that the performance was meant to celebrate diversity and community tolerance, not to mock religious beliefs.[201][202]