The 2024 Summer Olympics (French: Jeux olympiques d'été de 2024), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (French: Jeux de la XXXIIIe Olympiade) and commonly known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 26 July to 11 August 2024 in France, with Paris as the main host city and 16 other cities spread across European France, plus one subsite in Tahiti — an island within the French overseas country and overseas collectivity of French Polynesia.[5]
Paris 2024 will feature the debut of breakdancing[6] as an Olympic event, and it will be the final Olympic Games held during the presidency of IOC President Thomas Bach.[7] The Games will be the first to feature an identical number of athletes between men and women. The Games are expected to cost €8.3 billion.[8]
The five candidate cities were Paris, Hamburg, Budapest, Rome, and Los Angeles. The bidding process was slowed by withdrawals, political uncertainty and deterring costs.[9] Hamburg withdrew its bid on 29 November 2015 after holding a referendum.[10] Rome withdrew on 21 September 2016, citing fiscal difficulties.[11] Budapest withdrew on 22 February 2017, after a petition against the bid collected more signatures than necessary for a referendum.[12][13][14]
Following these withdrawals, the IOC Executive Board met on 9 June 2017 in Lausanne, Switzerland, to discuss the 2024 and 2028 bid processes.[15][16] 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.[16] 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.[17]
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,[18][19] enabling Paris to be confirmed as host for 2024. Both decisions were ratified at the 131st IOC Session on 13 September 2017.[20]
The handball tournaments will be held in Lille, which is 225 km (140 mi) from the host city; the sailing and some football games will be held in the Mediterranean city of Marseille, which is 777 km (483 mi) from the host city; 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 the host city. Football will also be hosted in another five cities, which are Bordeaux, Décines-Charpieu (Lyon), Nantes, Nice and Saint-Étienne, some of which are home to Ligue 1 clubs.
Paris 2024 president 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.[26] 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.[27]
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.[28] 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.[29] 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.[30]
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.[31] Within the agreements, it was planned to deploy more drones and sea barriers to prevent small boats from crossing the channel illegally.[32] The British Army will also be deploying Starstreak surface-to-air missile units for air security.[33] Police in Paris held inspections and rehearsals within their bomb disposal unit before the Games, similar to their preparations for the 2023 Rugby World Cup at the Stade de France.[34]
As a part of Qatari EmirSheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani visit to France, several agreements were signed between two nations to enhance security for the Olympics.[35] In preparation for the significant security demands and counterterrorist measures, Poland has pledged to contribute security troops, including sniffer dog handlers, to support international efforts aimed at ensuring the safety of the Games.[36][37] The Qatari Minister of Interior and Commander of Lekhwiya convened a meeting on 3 April 2024 ahead of the Olympics, with officials and security leaders, including Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Sheikh Jassim bin Mansour Al Thani to discuss security operations, while US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel to modernize the command structure of the security alliance with Japan.[38][39]
Security concerns impacted the announced plans for the opening ceremony 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.[40][41][42]
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.[43] Following the end of registration on 3 May 2023, over 300,000 applications had been submitted to the Paris Organizing Committee, exceeding the number of applicants for the previous two Olympics.[44] Applicants were notified of the outcome of their application between September and December 2023.[45] Over 800 applicants were excluded over security fears, among which 15 were flagged with Fiche S.[46]
The Games
Opening ceremony
A viewing party for the 2020 Summer Olympics at Place du Trocadéro, which will host the official protocol for the opening ceremony.
The opening ceremony is scheduled to begin on 26 July 2024 at 19:30 (CEST, GMT+2).[47] The ceremony is tentatively[40] scheduled to take place outside a traditional stadium setting for the first time, with plans for a parade of nations conducted as a boat parade along the Seine from Pont d'Austerlitz to Pont d'Iéna, and the official protocol taking place at Place du Trocadéro in a temporary "mini-stadium". The 6-kilometre (3.7-mile) parade route would feature cultural presentations and views of Paris landmarks.[48][49] The ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics will be directed by Thomas Jolly.[50]
Organisers promoted that the ceremony would be the most "spectacular and accessible opening ceremony in Olympic history", with COJOP2024 president Tony Estanguet stating that it would be free to attend, and estimating that it could attract as many as 600,000 spectators—exemplifying an overall goal for Paris 2024 to be a "people's Olympics".[51][52][48][49] There will be 100,000 ticketed spectators at viewing spots on the lower banks of the Seine, and approximately 200,000 spectators at free viewing spots on the upper banks (in addition to being visible from other public locations and buildings). In March 2024, due to security concerns, the French government ordered that access to the upper bank locations be by invitation only,[51][53] and in April 2024, President Macron stated that the ceremony could be scaled back or be held in a conventional manner at Stade de France, if necessary.[40][41][54]
Sports
The programme of the 2024 Summer Olympics will feature 329 events in 32 sports, including the 28 "core" Olympic sports contested in 2016 and 2020,[55] and four optional sports that were proposed by the Paris Organising Committee: breaking will make its Olympic debut as an optional sport, while skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing will return from 2020.[56][57][58] Four events have been dropped from weightlifting. In canoeing, two sprint events have been replaced with two slalom events, keeping the overall total at 16. In sport climbing, the previous "combined" event has been split up to create the separate events of "speed climbing" and "boulder-and-lead" for each gender.[59]
In February 2023, USA Boxing announced its decision to boycott the 2023 World Championships (organized by the International Boxing Association) where Russian and Belarusian athletes would compete with no restrictions, also accusing 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 U.S.[60]
When Paris was bidding for the Games in August 2017, the Paris Organising Committee announced that it would hold talks with the IOC and professional esports organisations about the possibility of introducing competitive events in 2024.[61][62] In July 2018, the IOC confirmed that it would not consider esports for the 2024 Olympics.[63] 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 debuted at the then-upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics.[64][65][63][58]
Closing ceremony
The closing ceremonies are scheduled to be held at Stade de France on 11 August 2024.[66]
Participating National Olympic Committees
The following is a list of National Olympic Committees who have qualified at least one athlete for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the IOC banned Russia and Belarus from the games for violating the Olympic Truce. Russian and Belarusian athletes may instead compete as "Individual Neutral Athletes" (AIN),[67][68] as long as they did not "actively" support the war[69] and therefore they should not carry the flag of the countries they are going to represent.[70] Individual neutral athletes must be approved by each sport's international federation, but an international federation has the discretion not to approve any athletes in their sport.[71] As individual athletes, AIN will not be considered a delegation during the opening ceremony or on official medal tables.[72][73][74]
The emblem for the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics was unveiled on 21 October 2019 at the Grand Rex. Inspired by Art Deco,[76][77] 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.[78] The emblem was designed by the French designer Sylvain Boyer[79] with the French design agency Royalties.[80][81][79]
The emblem for Paris 2024 was considered the biggest new logo release of 2019 by many design magazines.[82][83] 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.[84] 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".[78]
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.[85]
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.[86][87] Marianne is commonly depicted wearing the Phrygian cap, including in the Eugène Delacroix painting, Liberty Leading the People.[88][89] The two mascots share a motto of "Alone we go faster, but together we go further".[90]
Poster
The Olympic poster for these games was revealed on 4 March 2024. Designed by Uga 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.[91][92]
Corporate sponsorship
Belgian beverage company AB InBev became the first Worldwide Olympic Partner during the Games.[93]
^ abThe local NOC is under sanctions imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency for non-compliance; if the sanctions are not lifted by July 2024, their athletes would have to compete under a neutral name and flag.
^"France and Qatar". France Diplomacy - Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
^Williams, Eliza (4 December 2019). "Trends of 2019: Branding". Creative Review. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
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