Paris 2024 Olympics

On your marks, get set… 

The time has come for the long-awaited Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics with more than 16 million visitors expected over the summer.

Official Trailer

Look of the Games

A bit of history

How did the Olympics all start?

The very first Olympics took place 2,797 years ago, in Olympia, Greece, where they will be held every 4 years thereafter until the 4th Century. Then, they disappeared.

Under the initiative of the French educator and historian Pierre de Coubertin, New Olympic Games were launched in 1896, in Athens. Pierre de Coubertin is known as the father of the modern Olympic Games. He was particularly active in promoting the introduction of sport in French schools.

4 new features of the modern Olympic Games

• Athletes are no longer naked. This nudity was a way of ensuring that no women took part in the Olympic Games pretending to be a man. Modern Olympics weren't mixed in 1986 either. The novelty on this side came in 1900 - women could now qualify for golf and tennis. Today, women are almost as numerous as men.
• The birth of the marathon. The event was invented as a tribute to a feat achieved 2,400 years earlier. A Greek messenger is said to have run the 42 km between Marathon beach and the city of Athens.
• First Winter Olympics. The first Winter Olympics were held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. 
• First Paralympic Games. On June 29,1948, the Summer Games were held in London. The first archery competition for wheelchair athletes is organized. That will be the driving force behind the Paralympic Games which were first held in Rome in 1960. Since then, the Paralympic Games have also been held every 4 years.

The Olympic Torch Journey

Contrary to popular belief, the Olympic flame is a recent ritual. It was used for the first time in 1936 at the Berlin Olympics for a reason that will freeze you! It was supposed to represent the sacred Aryan fire that Hitler wanted to spread throughout Europe. 

Symbols have changed since then. The flame still exists. Every 4 years, it is lit on the ruins of Hera's temple, where the ancient Greeks used to light fires during the ancient Olympic Games. It is then carried to the host city, usually by runners.

The Olympic Games have been innovative. The flame has traveled by boat, on skis, on a snowmobile, carried by a swimmer above water, by a diver under water, by parachute, on horseback, on camel back, and even on Concorde.

The Olympic motto

The original Olympic motto, chosen by Coubertin himself, is made up of three Latin words: Citius - Altius - Fortius. These words mean Faster - Higher - Stronger. 

On the 20th of July 2021, the Session of the International Olympic Committee approved a change in the Olympic motto that recognizes the unifying power of sport and the importance of solidarity. The change adds the word “together” after an en dash to “Faster, Higher, Stronger”. The new Olympic motto now reads in Latin “Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter” and “Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together” in English. The Olympic Games aren't any longer just about performance, they're about bringing the world together.

The values of Olympism

The three values of Olympism are excellence, respect and friendship.

The medals

Since 1928, most medals have featured the Goddess of Victory Nikke on one side, holding laurels in one hand and a palm in the other, in front of the Colosseum – a Roman monument.

Since 2004, the error has been rectified. The goddess now stands inside the Panathenaic stadium in Athens, which was renovated to host the 1896 Olympic Games. One must give back to Greece what belongs to Greece 😉

More information about the Olympic medals.

The emblem of Paris 2024 Olympics

The 3 symbols behind this face

• The gold medal
• Unalterable
• Brilliant
• Eternal
• The flame
• Olympic and Paralympic
• Rallying
• Bringing together and inspiring the greatest creators
• Marianne
• Equality
• Sharing
• Generosity

Culture at the Games

With 30 days to go until the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, discover what goes on behind the scenes of the games and its cultural side.

Discover all the sports of the Olympic Games 2024

Opening ceremony Paris 2024 Olympics

Get ready for a magnificent show, parades of athletes, and speeches. You will also hear the Olympic anthem and see the raising of the Olympic flag.

“For the first time in the history of the Olympic Summer Games, the Opening Ceremony will not take place in a stadium. Paris 2024 is breaking new ground by bringing sports into the city and the same will be true of the Opening Ceremony, set to be held in the heart of the city along its main artery: the Seine.

Taking on a new guise, the parade of athletes will be held on the Seine with boats for each national delegation. These boats will be equipped with cameras to allow television and online viewers to see the athletes up close. Winding their way from east to west, the 10,500 athletes will cross through the centre of Paris, the overall playing field for the Games on which these competitors will display their sporting prowess over the next 16 days. The parade will come to the end of its 6-kilometre route in front of the Trocadéro, where the remaining elements of Olympic protocol and final shows will take place.

Holding a ceremony open to a large audience, with no admission fee for most of its spectators, is a major first.” 

– Olympics.com

On Friday, July 26, 2024 from 7:30pm to 11pm, the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be held. This event will take place on the Seine between the Pont d'Austerlitz and the Pont d'Iéna.

For children

All about the Olympic games

5 rings and a flame - French Song

Olympic Games explained to children in French

The funny story of the Olympics

Watch this great video by Jamy Gourmaud, a French journalist, TV host and famous popularizer (science & history). 

Stay tuned for further blog articles about Paris 2024 Olympics 😉

Yours in sport