In 2024, Paris will become the second city to host the Olympics for a third time after London. The Games will mark the 100th anniversary of the last time that Paris hosted, back in 1924.
The framework for the 2024 Games has already been set, from venues to the sports on the program to competition schedules and how athletes and teams qualify. Let’s go through what the Paris Olympics will look like.
What are the 2024 Olympic dates?
The 2024 Paris Olympics open with non-medal competition on July 24, 2024. The Opening Ceremony is July 26. The first medals are awarded July 27 (likely in shooting). The final medals will be decided on Aug. 11 (likely women’s basketball), the day of the Closing Ceremony. Paris is six hours ahead of New York City, so the primetime events will take place in the afternoon in the U.S.
What will the 2024 Olympic Opening Ceremony look like?
The Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony will be unlike any predecessor. Traditionally, the Opening Ceremony is inside a stadium. Paris organizers moved the ceremony outside — along the Seine River with boats carrying athletes along famous landmarks, climaxing with the Eiffel Tower. The plan calls for 160 boats to traverse nearly four miles in front of an estimated half million spectators (mostly in free-to-watch areas), about 10 times the normal Opening Ceremony crowd in a stadium.
What are the 2024 Olympic venues?
Some of Paris’ most iconic locations will host Olympic competition. Roland Garros, the annual site of tennis’ French Open, will host tennis and boxing. Beach volleyball will be in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower at Champ de Mars. The Palace of Versailles will host equestrian and modern pentathlon. Stade de France, which memorably hosted the 1998 men’s soccer World Cup final won by France, will be the home of track and field. Surfing will be in Tahiti, an island in French Polynesia that is about 9,800 miles from Paris.
What new sports are in the 2024 Olympics?
Breaking — don’t call it break dancing — is the lone sport on the 2024 program that will make its Olympic debut. Other sports that debuted in Tokyo return for Paris — skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing. Baseball and softball, which returned for the Tokyo Games after a 13-year break, were not put on the Paris 2024 program.
Who are the athletes to watch ahead of the 2024 Olympics?
With two years to go, the biggest stars leading into the 2024 Paris Games have plenty of time to emerge. So far in 2022, swimmer Katie Ledecky won another four gold medals at the world swimming championships. Caeleb Dressel, who earned five golds in Tokyo, won another two at the world championships before withdrawing on unspecified medical grounds.
Sprinter Sydney McLaughlin broke her 400m hurdles world record two more times this summer. She may add a second individual event — the 400m without hurdles — or switch events entirely. The U.S. won a record 33 medals at the world championships in Eugene, Oregon, with more Tokyo gold medalists adding world titles in the women’s 800m (Athing Mu) and pole vault (Katie Nageotte) and men’s shot put (Ryan Crouser).
In gymnastics, the national championships in August and world championships this fall will provide a better picture. Suni Lee, the Tokyo all-around champion, said she plans to return to elite, Olympic-level competition, but she’s taking a break this summer. Simone Biles has not said if or when she will return to gymnastics competition.
In team sports, the U.S. already qualified for Tokyo in men’s and women’s soccer. The U.S. women will be without the retired Carli Lloyd, but Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan are still part of the national team, which last won gold in 2012. Global stars Stephen Curry (basketball) and Kylian Mbappé (soccer) could make their Olympic debuts in Paris.
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